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10-5 Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan CHAPTER 10 - Goals, Objectives, and Recommendations 10 Finally, the Lands Legacy Program’s criteria for parks and nature preserves, along with the guidance in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan, helps to guide future acquisitfons of parks and public open space. Careful attentfon should contfnue to be paid to coordinatfng service areas with the towns to avoid duplicatfon of facilitfes. This is an area where the Intergovernmen- tal Parks (IP) Work Group, and the coordinatfon of the town and county advisory boards for parks and recreatfon, may be of great service. The IP Work Group, to this end, created a “Composite County- wide Plan for Parks and Trails Map” that shows town and county existfng and planned facilitfes, so that future facility planning may take into account other jurisdictfonal facility locatfons. This important map should be updated periodically and used by all juris- dictfons for individual and joint planning efforts. 2. The Vision – Parks, Nature Preserves and Public Open Spaces for 2030 It is now possible to outline a vision for the County’s parks and recreatfon system through the year 2030 based on the assessment of community needs, desires and the vision outlined in the past commit- ment to capital facilitfes, and the expressed goals and objectfves of the Comprehensive Plan. This vision is illustrated in this and subsequent sectfons. Recommendation #1: Protect & Enhance Our In- vestment in Parks and Open Spaces Orange County, since 1998, has made a substantfal investment in providing parks and public open spaces for all county residents. Facilitfes in excess of $9 million have been constructed at seven park locatfons across the county, in many cases leveraging state and federal grant funds. Another $6.5 million has been invested in municipal park projects in the towns. Additfonal facilitfes of $14 million (including $8-10 million at Twin Creeks Park) are planned as future phases of these parks, and the County should look to build the future phases of the facilitfes, as reflected in the Capital Investment Plan, to protect the investment already committed, and enhance the recreatfonal opportunitfes for residents – actfons that also promote economic development and help foster healthy lifestyles. In additfon, some of the facilitfes constructed in the 1998-2010 tfmeframe have begun (and will contfnue) to show the signs of wear and tear on existfng facili- tfes, be it playground structures or picnic shelters and restrooms, before we reach the plan year of 2030. Maintenance and replacement of dated facilitfes has not been an issue for Orange County due to the newness of its facilitfes, but this will change in the coming 10-15 years. Funding for maintenance and replacement and/or renovatfon of structures and facilitfes will be needed – as will adequate funding for park operatfons. Operatfng costs are the unseen critfcal need for park facilitfes, as without adequate operatfng funds, the best equip- ment and newest facilitfes will not yield the desired recreatfonal experience for the public. 113