The budget for fun things to do in Fort Dodge will apparently remain steady under the proposed 2019-2020 city spending plan.

The City Council on Monday reviewed most of the various components that make up the proposed budget for the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department.

“We do a lot with what we have and what we’ve been given,” Lori Branderhorst, the director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, said. “What the City Council has given us each year has given us a pretty good quality of life for the community.”

The budget for Lakeside Municipal Golf Course, which is at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park north of the city, was the biggest proposed spending plan reviewed Monday.

It calls for spending $427,900 in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

That’s down from the current budget of $434,100.

Branderhorst said there is a need to draw people who aren’t diehard golfers to the course. She added that she’s working on ideas for non-golf events that could be held there.

The popularity of golf appears to be waning, and Councilman Dave Flattery said he fears the same thing is also happening with baseball and softball.

“I don’t think the youth are playing those sports any more,” he said.

Branderhorst said there is a decline in the three sports.

“It’s a national trend,” she said. “It’s not just in Fort Dodge.”

She said young people need to be “outside playing, not downstairs gaming.”

Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex

This complex on Webster County Road P56 north of the city features baseball and softball diamonds, including some that look like famous big league stadiums, and soccer fields.

It has a proposed budget of $343,900.

That’s up $10,000 from the current $333,900.

The big project for the next budget year is the installation of safety netting at one of the softball diamonds used during the annual girls state softball tournament. That job is estimated to cost $75,000.

A familiar face will be missing from the complex late this summer. Longtime Complex Superintendent Jim Winter will retire June 28, after 36 years of service.

After he retires, Lakeside Golf Course Superintendent Chad Graaf will take on the additional duty of overseeing the sports complex, according to Branderhorst. She said an entry-level groundskeeper will be hired to work at the sports complex.

Rosedale Rapids Aquatics Center

The pool complex at 10th Avenue North and 32nd Street has a proposed budget of $312,400, with estimated revenues of $227,500.

In the current fiscal year, the center has a proposed budget of $289,000 with $208,000 in revenue.

Branderhorst said she’s working with leaders of a local aquatics club to create a new position that would be responsible for day-to-day operations of the complex.

Other proposed budgets

There are other, smaller budgets that also make up the department’s budget. They include:

• Parks maintenance — $211,000, up from $204,200

• Recreation general (leagues and other programming) — $133,900, down from $139,050

• Citizens Central — $112,500, down from $129,600

• Oakland Cemetery — $41,000; up from $33,700

• Oleson Park Splashpad — $22,490, unchanged

• Trails maintenance — $7,000, unchanged