Allentown City Personal Recreation Committee members heard a budget-focused briefing Oct. 25 from Parks and Recreation staff outlining priorities for 2026, including continued park maintenance, support for the city's climate action plan and expansion of free swim lessons, plus operational changes to move special-event permitting into the city's EnerGov system.

The presentation laid out an incremental approach for 2026: maintain ongoing park operations (landscaping, tree care, athletic fields and courts), continue support for capital projects and special events, move event permitting into EnerGov to streamline applications, and expand aquatics programming with additional free swim lessons. "Going into 2026, our focus is gonna be continuing the path that we're on, but making improvements and and trying to deliver some of our programs, either expand them or or streamline them," Talino, Parks and Recreation staff, told the committee.

Why it matters: the items affect daily park upkeep, event permitting for vendors and organizers, and recreation access for Allentown residents. Committee members also pressed staff on safety for evening "movies at the pool," bathroom access across parks and efforts to recruit and certify lifeguards from within the city.

Most important details

Park maintenance and schedule: Talino said park maintenance work will continue with seasonal shifts into leaf collection, installing lights in parkways and January staff development and snow-removal planning. Staff described the maintenance bureau as responsible for a wide array of tasks from tree care to supporting capital projects.

Climate and sustainability efforts: Staff said 2026 will emphasize the city's climate action plan, which was on the city council agenda the same evening, and will include public engagement, continued tracking of an EV pilot and review of projects funded through the youth climate action fund. "2026 will focus primarily on the climate action plan," Talino said, adding staff are reviewing impacts from current grantees who are nearing completion.

Special events and permitting: Staff said city-run events will largely continue in their current formats and listed several city-sponsored concerts and community events planned to continue in 2026. To streamline permitting and make application status more transparent, Parks and Recreation plans to migrate special-event permitting from the current MyRec system into the city's EnerGov (Tyler EnerGov) platform. Talino said the change should help applicants see missing documents and reduce back-and-forth with staff.

Aquatics, programming and golf: Staff described a goal to add more free swim lessons and to better integrate lessons with the playground program. Officials said they hope to expand youth soccer programming, continue movie nights and other regular series, and add more programming for older adults and adults with disabilities. Golf operations are expected to continue without major changes in 2026.

Pool movie safety: Committee members pressed staff on safety for evening pool movie nights, an event the presenter said has been run "a couple years" and is popular at Mac, Cedar and other pools. "People really enjoy it, and we've made some sense," Talino said, while acknowledging safety trade-offs for lifeguards needing to see the pool bottom at night. A committee member who identified herself as Staffa said from her lifeguard experience that watching a movie in the pool raises safety concerns; staff said they are experimenting with extra lighting and additional guards to manage risk.

Restroom access and facilities investment: Committee members asked about expanding year-round or extended-season bathroom access. Talino said staff added two auto-lock restroom locations this season at Jordan and Roosevelt parks after community feedback, and that extending seasons would be primarily a staffing issue. She offered to compile ballpark cost estimates and to coordinate with Public Works and the facilities manager to assess older facilities such as the restroom at Fountain Park.

Lifeguard training and recruitment: Committee members asked whether lifeguard certification for Allentown residents remains supported. Talino said a previous private donation from the JB Riley fund was a one-time contribution, but that lifeguard certification and instructor training (Red Cross and similar) are provided through the aquatics budget and that background checks are handled by Human Resources. Staff described active recruitment at city schools including Dieruff and Allen to hire seasonal staff from within Allentown, and estimated roughly 20% of seasonal staff are from outside the city.

Questions left open

The committee asked whether the youth climate action fund will be available in 2026; Talino said the current round of projects are finishing but staff had not yet received guidance about funding continuation for 2026. Staff said some permitting rules (for example, insurance requirements for food vendors) are increasingly strict and that waiver practices for very small vendors are unclear under the new centralized process.

Next steps and follow-up: Staff offered to return with cost estimates for a restroom access pilot and additional details on how EnerGov will change applicant workflows for special events. No formal votes were taken at the meeting; the session was a budget-priorities briefing and discussion.

Ending note: With no further public comment, the committee chair adjourned the meeting.