The city of Eagle is asking neighbors to help shape the future of its parks, trails, pathways and recreation through a new community master plan and there is still time to weigh in.The city hosted an open house Monday night whe re residents could review preliminary recommendations and provide feedback. An online questionnaire remains open through Oct. 4 for those who could not attend. WATCH | Eagle seeks community input on parks and recreation master plan: Eagle seeks community input on parks and recreation master plan through Oct. 4Kristina Kachur Webb, a senior planner with Logan Simpson, said the open house is the second of three planned rounds of community engagement. The first round, held earlier this summer, asked residents about their vision, where they see gaps and what they need most."We're asking the community to give us feedback on those preliminary recommendations so we can take those into the final plan," Kachur Webb said.Preliminary recommendations span several topic areas. On pathways and trails, the plan looks at new connectivity, crossings and improvements to help people reach the Greenbelt safely and access new parts of town.\On recreation programming, Kachur Webb said the city has reached its capacity for both indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, meaning expanded programming will require new spaces."One of the main things that I think I've been hearing is around that facility space, whether that's indoor or outdoor, people want to, you know, put their kids into sports, and we need more spaces for them," Kachur Webb said.On open space and natural areas, the plan looks at working with the BLM on a 1,600-acre parcel between Valnova and the city, expanding waterway connectivity and river access, and partnering with private landowners in the foothills to maintain access to passive recreation and single-track trails. The city is also currently building out the regional athletic park near Valnova.The plan also addresses park standards. Eagle currently sits at 3.2 acres of park per 1,000 residents, and the plan aims to increase that figure to improve quality of life across the city.Maintenance and staffing standards are also part of the recommendations, ensuring that parks and trails remain high quality after they are built.On funding, the plan explores multiple mechanisms, including a cost recovery study, a dedicated grant writer, a localized dedicated property tax, and naming rights or advertising opportunities.The open house featured an interactive budget exercise where attendees could weigh in on funding priorities and then allocate a hypothetical budget across different types of projects from maintaining existing parks to building new paved trails or an indoor community center.Kachur Webb said the master plan will help guide future development, grant applications and recreation projects across Eagle for years to come."This is the plan that the city, the city council, the [Parks, Pathways and Recreation Commission] will follow moving forward," Kachur Webb said. "Getting our ideas and our proposed plan in here is really important so that we have that basis to go on for the future."RELATED | Eagle mayor and neighbors say foothills shooting debate is far from over after council rejects proposed mapEagle neighbor Burk Mantel, who lives at the end of Hartley Road adjacent to BLM land in the foothills, attended Monday's open house with a specific concern in mind. In July, Mantel raised safety issues on that land, including shooting, trash and high-speed motorized vehicles. He said those problems have only gotten worse."The problems up there just become worse and worse by the week and by the month," Mantel said.Mantel said the foothills are particularly active with shooting this time of year as deer and elk hunters sight in their rifles ahead of hunting season. He said hunters have also been leaving trash and garbage behind. On Saturday, someone dumped a deer carcass on the land, which Mantel noted is illegal within city limits."The shooters, and with their unsafe shooting practice and the high-speed motorized vehicles like the Razors and the ATVs and the e-bikes, have chased everybody else away," Mantel said. "They've become the dominant users up there, and other people just don't feel comfortable going up there using our foothills, which in essence is a beautiful, nature park."Mantel said the foothills are home to deer, pheasants, coyotes and other wildlife, and that the activity is pushing animals out of the area."The wildlife is being pushed out of that area by the shooters and by the high-speed motorized vehicle users," Mantel said.Mantel said he hopes the foothills will once again be a place where families can ride bicycles, walk dogs, take children for walks, ride horses and enjoy other forms of recreation safely."I hope that the city council and the mayor will, as soon as possible, do something to make our foothills more safe for the people of Eagle and the surrounding communities," Mantel said.RELATED | Eagle City Council rejects plan to change where guns can be fired within city limitsMantel said his frustration stems in part from the fact that a foothills recreation plan was already approved by the Eagle City Council in 2021, following roughly two years of work and a survey in which more than 1,300 respondents said they wanted shooting and motorized vehicles restricted on the land."The city has dropped the whole issue and pretty much kicked the can over to the Parks and Recreation department to come up with some kind of a plan," Mantel said.Mantel said city staff at Monday's open house told him they are working to develop a recreation plan for the foothills, but he remains skeptical given the history."The plan was already approved by the city council five years ago, so it seems like we're just doing the same thing over again," Mantel said.Neighbors who want to provide input on the master plan can find the online questionnaire by clicking here. The survey closes Oct. 4. ...read more read less