According to the City of Chico’s Municipal Code and Code of Regulations Bidwell Park is to be managed by the Bidwell Parks and Playground Commission (BPPC) The City Code of Regulations (aka the “12Rs” Chico 12R Park Regulations) states that the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission is “vested with the supervision, control and management of all public parks and playgrounds within the city.” The Municipal Code ARTICLE X Sec 1006.1 BPPC states that the Bidwell Parks and Playground Commission has the “power and duty to operate and maintain all of the parks and playgrounds owned by the city and to adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to govern and control the use of such parks and playgrounds”. Despite the authority granted to the BPPC as a “chartered commission”, Park Commissioners have had their authority over management of the parks severely limited by the City Manager and Council since 2009. Commissioners have been told for the past few years they are now an “advisory body” to the City Council and cannot make policy or management decisions. City management doesn’t even provide budgetary information to the Commission nor are Commissioners asked to provide their annual “laundry list” of project proposals to the City Manager as they have done in the past. The Public Works Operations and Maintenance manager told the BPPC that they are responsible for making operations and maintenance decisions about the Park, not the Park Commission. Everyday operations and maintenance of Bidwell Park is done by the City of Chico’s Public Works Department, Parks Division.
The Bidwell Park and Playground Commission (BPCC) is a seven member commission appointed by the City Council. A commissioner’s term is four years unless they are appointed mid-term due to vacancy and then their term is until the end of the term of the commissioner they replace. The Bidwell Park and Playground Commission (BPPC) generally meets monthly on the last Monday of each month unless otherwise rescheduled in the City Council Chamber – 421 Main Street.
As representatives of the citizens of Chico, the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission (BPPC) endeavors to preserve and enhance the natural and recreational resources of Bidwell Park, community and neighborhood parks, greenways and open space throughout the community.
Through careful consideration of the needs and desires of citizens, coupled with an awareness of available city resources, the BPPC strives to ensure that the city’s parks and greenways are preserved and enhanced for this and future generations.
The duties of the Park Commission also extend to all of the facilities managed by the Park Division and decisions about city-owned trees (which are managed by the Public Works Operations and Maintenance Department.
Park Commission meetings are typically held on the last Monday of every month. However, in 2023 the City Council started to trim out all commissions meetings and activities. The BPPC had a number of standing committees that met monthly in addition to the monthly Commission meeting. These committee meetings were open to the public and they were very beneficial for the Commission to get real work done with the results of meetings brought before the Commission for approval. Today the Council has eliminated committee meetings and activities and very little is don’t by the Commission except to rubber-stamp items brought to them from staff.
To access BPPC meeting agendas, minutes, and reports go to the City’s Park Commission website (Park Commission) or the City website where agendas, minutes, and recorded meetings can be found.
The Park Commission is also responsible for the City’s other parks, green spaces, creek ways, and street trees.
The Bidwell Park Master Management Plan (BPMMP) is the guiding document for maintenance and improvements in Bidwell Park. The first BPMMP was developed 1989 and approved by the City Council in 1990. The BPMMP is supposed to be updated every five years. The Park Commission partially updated the Plan in the late 1990s but a full update didn’t happened in 2007, eighteen years later after it was first released. The current BPMMP Update was approved in 2008 and hasn’t been updated since then.
The Commission and Park Staff are supposed to use the BPMMP to guide the City’s management and development of the Park. The 2008 Update was not a comprehensive document and was written with big gaping holes in it to be filled in later according to Park Staff. The primary focus of the 2008 Update was the Disc Golf Course. The City Council allocated the funds for the update as long as it included the environmental impact report and plan for the Disc Golf Course.
The City of Chico’s Park Division and the Public Works’ Operations and Maintenance Department, of which the Park Division is a part of, is responsible for maintaining the City’s parks, playgrounds, open space, greenways, and creek ways.
City of Chico Bidwell Park webpage.