You may have only noticed it in your subconscious, but driving around the streets and roadways in Bountiful City, it’s hard not to notice it’s bright, colorful and cheerful – especially in the summer. That doesn’t happen by accident. And in fact it’s a year-round process.

The Bountiful Parks Department has responsibility for 220 acres of parks, streetscapes, rights-of-way and flowerbeds. It means maintaining two greenhouses where parks personnel propagate and grow over 20,000 flowers which includes 20 different species. They nurture them in the offseason, and plant them as spring and summer come along. The results are breathtaking.

“I can’t imagine what our city would look like without these beautiful flowers,” said Bountiful resident Amy Lawson. “The parks are just amazing, and they seem to keep the flowerbeds and shrubs looking great all through summer and into fall.”

Parks Director Brock Hill has a lot on his plate besides just the floral and fauna. His department, made up of seven full-time employees and as many as 24 seasonal or part-time employees in the summer, are also responsible for the upkeep of 17 parks, 25 boweries, three stages, 36 bathrooms, 13 playgrounds, seven soccer fields, 18 tennis courts, six pickleball courts, six baseball fields, two softball fields, and the Bark Park for dogs. And don’t forget about the Bountiful Ridge Golf Course, part of which falls under the department’s responsibilities.

That breakdown per full-time employee is 31-plus acres apiece. City Manager Gary Hill pointed out that the City of St. George, which has 550 acres of parks, has 60 full-time and over 100 part-time employees in its parks division. That equals 9 acres/full-time employee.

The proposed budget for fiscal year 2022 (which starts July 1) calls for adding two full-time and two seasonal employees to the department. Parks will also be working with designers for development of the new Washington Park, on the site of the old Washington Elementary School.