Sammamish took its first step Monday in planning the city’s parks services for the next decade.

The Parks and Recreation Commission presented its comprehensive Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan to the city council — a plan that must be updated every six years to maintain eligibility for state grants.

Commissioners Hank Klein and Pauline Cantor highlighted several topics in the plan, including the need to maintain the current levels of parks service. With the addition of three new parks at the end of 2011, including the 179-acre Evans Creek Preserve, the cost of anticipated maintenance per developed acre is significantly lower than past years.

There was a budget of more than $1.5 million in 2011, resulting in $6,387 spent per developed acre. With a budget of more than $1.6 million for 2012, the estimated amount spent per acre will drop to $3,759.

“More cuts could result in noticeable degeneration in a park system that helps define the very character of a our beautiful city,” said Klein, recommending the council consider this when looking at the budget.

The Parks Commission also emphasized several other desires, including the addition of synthetic turf on athletic fields, providing trail connectivity to parks and possibly adding more parks to areas like the northeast portion of Sammamish — an area that doesn’t meet standards for geographic equity.

In addition, the commission unanimously supported moving forward with a community and aquatics center project.

“We encourage the development of a final concept plan and encourage you to put this out to the community for a vote,” Klein said.

The council, which will continue to evaluate the plan in an April 10 study session, was mostly receptive of the commission’s presentation.

The only questions came from councilman John Curley, who suggested a study be conducted to see how many people actually use the parks.

“I love parks, I just want to know how many people use the parks, that’s all,” Curley said. “It’s not the be-all end-all whether the park has viability, but let’s just do an analysis on this.”

Others, like councilwoman Nancy Whitten disagreed.

“I don’t think you measure success by how my people are using it,” she said.

The council will continue to discuss the plan along with the Capital Impact Plan in the coming months. The parks plan will be officially approved no later than the fall.