Park Board · Monday, January 24, 2022 · City Council Digest

1. CALL TO ORDER

Membership

packet pp.3

Open packet at p.3 ↗

Staff report:

Park Board About Staff Liaison Created in 1983, this board provides guidance and Milissa Ching, Operations Specialist direction in meeting the City’s parks and Email recreational needs by advising the Mayor and Parks & Recreation Director on matters relating to the Regular Members planning; acquisition, development; and operation 2025 - Vacant of parks, facilities and recreational programs inside 2022 of 2025- Danielle Githens the City limits. 2024 - Marlene Waxe 2024 - Zack Szablewski Membership 2023 - Chris Kovac The Park Board is comprised of nine regular 2022 - Bradley Book members, with four-year terms; and two 2022 - Ruben Nieto alternates, with two-year terms. All members are 2022 - Jonathan Richardson appointed by the Mayor and subject to 2022 - Linda Whitworth confirmation by the City Council. Terms expire April 30 of the year listed. For more information, see Alternate Members…

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of November 22, 2021

packet pp.5–7

▶ Watch from 1:10 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 11-22-21 Park Board Minutes Page [0000] CITY OF ISSAQUAH Park Board 7:00 PM Virtual Meeting November 22, 2021 DRAFT MINUTES

4. REGULAR BUSINESS

2022 Major Workplan Items, (I)

Director and Jennifer Fink, Park Planner and · 30 min · Jeff Watling, Parks and Community Services · packet pp.9–22

Topics: Parks

Open packet at p.9 ↗

Staff report:

REGULAR BUSINESS a) JEFF WATLING PARKS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR

Capital Taskforce Update, (I)

Director and Brad Book, Park Board Chair · 45 min · Jeff Watling, Parks and Community Services · packet pp.23–28

Topics: Parks

Open packet at p.23 ↗

Staff report:

Park District – Summary and Overview 1/24/22 | PARK BOARD

Newport Way Letter, (D)

Action · 15 min · Brad Book, Park Board Chair · packet pp.29–33

Topics: Transportation

Previously discussed: Transportation Advisory Board · Nov 18, 2021 Park Board · Nov 22, 2021

Open packet at p.29 ↗

Staff report:

Transportation Advisory Board Park Board

5. REPORTS

Director's Report

▶ Watch from 1:26:19

Chairperson's Report

▶ Watch from 1:31:13

Youth Report

▶ Watch from 1:36:07

2785 segments .txt ↗

0:01 ↗ good evening everyone everyone to the

0:03 ↗ january 24th 2022 park board meeting

0:07 ↗ could everybody please remember to mute

0:09 ↗ your

0:10 ↗ selves when you're not speaking thanks

0:12 ↗ bye brad yeah getting a little echo

0:14 ↗ there

0:19 ↗ so with that

0:21 ↗ uh first thing i wanted to do is roll

0:23 ↗ call so when i call your name please

0:25 ↗ take yourself off mute and

0:27 ↗ let us know you're here

0:32 ↗ uh danielle

0:37 ↗ zach

0:39 ↗ here

0:42 ↗ chris

0:44 ↗ here

0:46 ↗ reuben

0:50 ↗ here

0:52 ↗ linda

0:55 ↗ here

0:57 ↗ and brenda

0:59 ↗ here

1:02 ↗ here

1:03 ↗ good thank you everyone for that

1:08 ↗ uh next on the item for our agenda this

1:10 ↗ evening is approval of minutes

1:14 ↗ and i really had a chance to take a look

1:16 ↗ at them i assume anybody have any

1:18 ↗ comments or corrections that you're

1:19 ↗ aware of

1:24 ↗ the only addendum i guess that i would

1:26 ↗ like to add melissa is

1:29 ↗ to

1:30 ↗ uh add uh ryan and sean as two people

1:35 ↗ from the youth board that were in

1:37 ↗ attendance i did not see them listed

1:40 ↗ as attendees

1:42 ↗ i'll do that thank you brad

1:45 ↗ any other corrections or comments

1:49 ↗ any objections to approval of minutes

1:53 ↗ seeing no objections i hereby approve

1:55 ↗ minutes from our november 22nd meeting

1:59 ↗ thank you everyone for that

2:02 ↗ uh next on the agenda melissa do we have

2:05 ↗ any public comments from anyone

2:08 ↗ no public comments received and we do

2:10 ↗ not have any um guest attendees this

2:13 ↗ evening okay thank you

2:17 ↗ so we have three main items on the

2:20 ↗ agenda this evening a work plan for 2022

2:25 ↗ we're going to be talking further again

2:27 ↗ about the capital task force

2:31 ↗ capital finance task force i should say

2:33 ↗ and we're also going to have some

2:35 ↗ further discussion and an action item

2:37 ↗ for the newport way letter

2:40 ↗ which was included in your packet

2:43 ↗ so with that i'll go ahead and turn it

2:46 ↗ over to jeff and jennifer to start the

2:49 ↗ discussion about the work plan for 2022

2:55 ↗ that's great thanks brad good evening

2:57 ↗ everybody uh jeff watling uh parks and

3:00 ↗ community services director yeah this

3:02 ↗ first item is

3:05 ↗ something we've done the last couple of

3:07 ↗ years now

3:09 ↗ as a bit of a tradition where we go over

3:13 ↗ not

3:14 ↗ not the entire work plan of the

3:15 ↗ department but

3:16 ↗ sort of those major work plan items

3:19 ↗ um

3:20 ↗ typically

3:22 ↗ we've gone over this as sort of our

3:24 ↗ one-pager word document

3:26 ↗ i sent that to you later this afternoon

3:28 ↗ we'll be sure to add that to the minutes

3:32 ↗ but rather we thought tonight we'd spend

3:34 ↗ a little extra time on

3:36 ↗ these items

3:37 ↗ and so we will

3:40 ↗ switch over to a powerpoint presentation

3:43 ↗ and have

3:44 ↗ us sort of go through these projects

3:49 ↗ our department is comprised of five

3:52 ↗ divisions as you recall

3:54 ↗ park planning admin administration

3:56 ↗ park operations uh recreation services

3:59 ↗ team

4:00 ↗ um arts and human services for the

4:03 ↗ purposes of the presentation and sort of

4:05 ↗ our discussion and and feedback tonight

4:08 ↗ we're gonna

4:08 ↗ spend our time highlighting the park

4:11 ↗ planning projects the capital projects

4:13 ↗ our park operations initiatives and our

4:15 ↗ recreation initiatives

4:18 ↗ given that the arts initiatives are

4:20 ↗ really

4:23 ↗ focused

4:24 ↗ and advised with the arts commission and

4:27 ↗ equally so the human services items with

4:29 ↗ the human services commission so

4:32 ↗ um why don't we pull up the powerpoint

4:36 ↗ presentation um brian if you're able to

4:39 ↗ to do that that would be let me give it

4:42 ↗ a go great

4:44 ↗ thank you

4:53 ↗ wow did that come up

4:54 ↗ looking good

4:57 ↗ you know what's

4:58 ↗ funny is i can't see it oh man i guess i

5:00 ↗ get on my other screen here is it a good

5:02 ↗ enough i'm not seeing how you're seeing

5:04 ↗ it but is it good enough as it is i can

5:05 ↗ just scroll through the uh sheets or how

5:07 ↗ are you seeing it

5:09 ↗ uh we're seeing it with uh the preview

5:12 ↗ on the side um

5:14 ↗ you know if there's a way to just make

5:16 ↗ it single screen

5:20 ↗ i think present yeah

5:24 ↗ perfect that looks great thanks brian

5:26 ↗ yeah

5:28 ↗ how many parks and rec officials does it

5:30 ↗ take to equate to one it person um

5:33 ↗ it's all good uh next three three brad

5:37 ↗ the over under is three apparently thank

5:39 ↗ you for that

5:40 ↗ um next slide brian

5:46 ↗ so as i mentioned before uh this work

5:49 ↗ plan is is really focusing on our major

5:51 ↗ work plan items it's not intended as our

5:53 ↗ all-inclusive work plan there's a lot of

5:55 ↗ operational work

5:56 ↗ a lot of program and service delivery

5:58 ↗ that is not highlighted here this is

6:00 ↗ really representing

6:02 ↗ within each division that significant

6:04 ↗ work that's going to have a degree of

6:06 ↗ public engagement

6:08 ↗ with the community

6:10 ↗ and or

6:12 ↗ interaction

6:13 ↗ with city council

6:16 ↗ and as i mentioned before we're going to

6:17 ↗ highlight the park planning park

6:19 ↗ operations and recreation items tonight

6:21 ↗ and as we go through it uh jennifer and

6:24 ↗ brian are going to help uh with their

6:26 ↗ respective

6:27 ↗ uh divisions and and again just giving a

6:30 ↗ highlight of where we're at with these

6:32 ↗ projects and and what they're about and

6:35 ↗ would certainly welcome

6:37 ↗ any feedback discussion questions

6:40 ↗ at the end

6:42 ↗ next slide

6:43 ↗ and i think we'll kick off our our

6:45 ↗ capital project so

6:47 ↗ jennifer fink our park

6:49 ↗ park project manager take it away

6:56 ↗ thank you jeff

6:58 ↗ good evening everyone

6:59 ↗ jennifer fink park planner project

7:01 ↗ administrator here to chat about

7:04 ↗ a variety of park projects all in

7:06 ↗ various stages of development and action

7:10 ↗ and look forward to sharing that with

7:12 ↗ you

7:13 ↗ one that is

7:15 ↗ been hot on the list in 2021

7:18 ↗ and we're going to be working on through

7:20 ↗ 2022 is hillside neighborhood park

7:24 ↗ as the board recalls um

7:26 ↗ we had a surprise

7:28 ↗ discovery as we were doing some design

7:31 ↗ work out on the site that the ball field

7:34 ↗ um as actually a wetland after much work

7:37 ↗ with the community and the neighborhood

7:40 ↗ it was recommended that we mitigate that

7:43 ↗ and so before we can do any perk

7:44 ↗ improvements we need to learn more

7:47 ↗ about how to drain the wetland and so

7:49 ↗ currently we're doing some geotechnical

7:51 ↗ work on the play field the field work

7:54 ↗ has been completed but they are now

7:56 ↗ working on our final report so we can

7:59 ↗ have some

8:00 ↗ guidance and direction as to how we can

8:03 ↗ drain the play field in order to make it

8:05 ↗ usable year round for the community

8:10 ↗ in doing

8:11 ↗ mitigation for the existing wetland we

8:14 ↗ need to find sites for

8:17 ↗ enhancement or improvement of an

8:20 ↗ existing wetland

8:21 ↗ and so we've been

8:23 ↗ doing some field work this winter to try

8:26 ↗ and

8:27 ↗ identify what would be a good candidate

8:30 ↗ given

8:31 ↗ the sites we are there's no

8:33 ↗ recommendation at this time

8:35 ↗ we need to also understand what

8:37 ↗ potential

8:38 ↗ play improvements would be to the

8:40 ↗ wetlands we understand the level of

8:43 ↗ impact that we would be having

8:46 ↗ on

8:47 ↗ that would require mitigation so we're

8:50 ↗ doing a little back and forth once we

8:52 ↗ get the geotechnical work with design in

8:54 ↗ order to

8:56 ↗ move the project forward and make a full

8:58 ↗ recommendation on sites there's a we're

9:01 ↗ using a number of

9:04 ↗ components and

9:06 ↗ checklist priorities in order to find

9:09 ↗ the proper suitable

9:10 ↗ site so much more to come on that as we

9:13 ↗ work through that process

9:15 ↗ we do plan on re-engaging the

9:17 ↗ neighborhood

9:18 ↗ and

9:19 ↗ updating them on developments with the

9:21 ↗ mitigation and and also identifying any

9:24 ↗ future perk improvements

9:26 ↗ uh late in q1 of this year

9:30 ↗ next slide

9:36 ↗ blackberry park this was another

9:38 ↗ exciting project that started in 2021

9:42 ↗ um along with hillside park blackberry

9:45 ↗ park is also in need of some play area

9:47 ↗ improvements and

9:49 ↗ after working

9:51 ↗ with the community on this park

9:54 ↗ we were able to come up with a new uh

9:56 ↗ preferred design

9:58 ↗ and we have taken that into construction

10:00 ↗ documents and are currently in the

10:02 ↗ permitting process with the city

10:06 ↗ we are

10:07 ↗ working on

10:09 ↗ getting this project bid and we hope to

10:12 ↗ start construction

10:13 ↗ in spring or early summer of this year

10:17 ↗ so this will be

10:18 ↗ about a three to four month uh

10:20 ↗ construction project but look really

10:23 ↗ forward to bringing this to the

10:24 ↗ community

10:26 ↗ as this park is

10:27 ↗ somewhat dated but highly loved and so i

10:30 ↗ know the neighborhood be very very

10:32 ↗ excited

10:33 ↗ for these park improvements

10:36 ↗ next slide

10:42 ↗ wayfinding

10:43 ↗ we have been working on a citywide

10:46 ↗ wayfinding plan that also includes

10:49 ↗ park and trail and facility signage

10:53 ↗ we are hoping with the 2022 budget there

10:55 ↗ is money to begin

10:57 ↗ implementation

10:59 ↗ as we finish out our design process

11:02 ↗ we are also creating a master plan with

11:06 ↗ design details for each of these sign

11:08 ↗ types

11:09 ↗ and with that we will be creating some

11:12 ↗ prototypes

11:13 ↗ we'll be sharing those with the

11:14 ↗ community

11:16 ↗ this year and

11:18 ↗ hope to get feedback

11:19 ↗ uh we hope to have the prototypes and

11:22 ↗ some community feedback hopefully in q2

11:25 ↗ of this year i'm assuming with

11:28 ↗ supply chain issues and all of that we

11:30 ↗ can still get them fabricated in that

11:33 ↗ time frame

11:34 ↗ we hope to have the master plan

11:36 ↗ completed here um

11:39 ↗ probably q2

11:40 ↗ and then we hope to start initial

11:43 ↗ installations in q4 we have we're going

11:46 ↗ to be doing a few facilities a few of

11:48 ↗ the newer parks like hillside park and

11:50 ↗ blackberry park as part of those park

11:52 ↗ improvements and also some signage along

11:54 ↗ the rainier trail

11:58 ↗ next

12:02 ↗ another project that actually started

12:04 ↗ back in 2019 creepy endemic

12:08 ↗ as the uh anchor parks project so we

12:11 ↗ were doing tibbetts valley park veterans

12:14 ↗ memorial and the crete corridor all as

12:16 ↗ one

12:17 ↗ um

12:18 ↗ comprehensive project and we are have

12:21 ↗ now split those up into three as you may

12:23 ↗ recall

12:24 ↗ just before the pandemic broke we're

12:26 ↗ about ready to send out a survey

12:29 ↗ um to the community on timbers valley

12:31 ↗ park veterans and the creek corridor and

12:33 ↗ that has been on pause we are now

12:37 ↗ as part of reviving these projects we

12:39 ↗ also um

12:42 ↗ got together some focus groups and we

12:44 ↗ had some significant conversation we

12:47 ↗ reviewed our existing concepts

12:49 ↗ and looked at how

12:52 ↗ they needed to be improved given what

12:54 ↗ we'd learned through the pandemic

12:56 ↗ through

12:57 ↗ public use of park spaces as we know

13:00 ↗ parks became a safe haven during the

13:02 ↗ pandemic for

13:03 ↗ individuals and areas down and around

13:06 ↗ on veterans memorial were used very

13:08 ↗ differently with the streetery and

13:10 ↗ public access and using trails and being

13:13 ↗ able to use our park system for mental

13:15 ↗ health

13:17 ↗ during this challenging time and so as

13:19 ↗ we're reviving this we hope to kick off

13:22 ↗ in q1 of this year um

13:26 ↗ veterans memorial

13:27 ↗ field through our focus group

13:29 ↗ conversations they really felt

13:32 ↗ veterans memorial field was probably the

13:34 ↗ ripest for

13:36 ↗ um

13:37 ↗ it was we looked at all projects which

13:39 ↗ to start with first um they felt had the

13:41 ↗ most sense of urgency to begin with that

13:44 ↗ and so um we hope to

13:47 ↗ then as soon as we get that one going

13:49 ↗ and out the gate we'll roll into

13:50 ↗ tibbetts valley park as well but these

13:53 ↗ parks are really our anchors within our

13:54 ↗ park system here to serve not only

13:57 ↗ residents of today but the future and

13:59 ↗ really looking at all the demands that

14:01 ↗ these park spaces need to provide and

14:04 ↗ with multiple benefits

14:06 ↗ so a lot more to come on these projects

14:09 ↗ this year so

14:10 ↗ i look forward to the board's

14:12 ↗ involvement with that

14:14 ↗ next

14:17 ↗ um as part of our parks capital project

14:20 ↗ too we're also um embarking upon a

14:22 ↗ sports field inventory and needs

14:24 ↗ assessment um we are going to be working

14:27 ↗ with a consultant finalizing a scope of

14:30 ↗ work right now

14:31 ↗ i hope to get them underway here and

14:34 ↗ start engagement

14:36 ↗ on this with the sports teams maybe late

14:38 ↗ in q1

14:40 ↗ and hope to have this project completed

14:42 ↗ in

14:43 ↗ late q2 as part of this we want to

14:45 ↗ better understand smart field uses and

14:48 ↗ demands but also what

14:50 ↗ potential improvements could be had at

14:53 ↗ those as part of this we are taking a

14:55 ↗ look at all

14:57 ↗ athletic fields within the city-wide

14:58 ↗ system that includes

15:01 ↗ fields at lake samana state park and any

15:03 ↗ issaquah school district fields that

15:05 ↗ would be within the city limits only

15:11 ↗ next slide

15:16 ↗ um

15:16 ↗ another thing uh that's rolling these

15:19 ↗ days and work with

15:20 ↗ a lot of folks from different people are

15:23 ↗ the

15:24 ↗ capital financing task force

15:26 ↗ which is really a collaboration

15:29 ↗ um

15:30 ↗ looking at all the different

15:32 ↗ funding needs throughout the city

15:35 ↗ and

15:37 ↗ what we can do to help support and get

15:40 ↗ the improvements needed not only here in

15:42 ↗ the park system but also with

15:44 ↗ transportation and other city-wide needs

15:48 ↗ looks like

15:49 ↗ there's going to be more coming out here

15:51 ↗ in the near future with recommendations

15:53 ↗ from this group here in

15:56 ↗ q1 of this year so more to come on that

15:58 ↗ and i know there's a topic on the agenda

16:00 ↗ tonight so i'll keep it short on that

16:04 ↗ as parks capital

16:07 ↗ projects we know that

16:09 ↗ park needs

16:10 ↗ as far as open space and strategic

16:12 ↗ acquisitions are really

16:15 ↗ important and have always been on our

16:16 ↗ work plan

16:18 ↗ and we will continue with that work

16:21 ↗ this year whether it's fulfilling

16:23 ↗ acquisitions for

16:25 ↗ the squad creek waters way and

16:28 ↗ future

16:30 ↗ connectivity needs

16:32 ↗ we are always looking for strategic and

16:35 ↗ opportunities when they do arise

16:38 ↗ we also are

16:40 ↗ um rolling in our second year of the off

16:43 ↗ leash dog area um tour number two is

16:47 ↗ underway for 22.

16:49 ↗ um

16:50 ↗ right now it is at the community center

16:52 ↗ but february 1st will be moving to

16:55 ↗ squawk valley park

16:56 ↗ again we receive some wonderful feedback

16:59 ↗ from the community about how they

17:00 ↗ enjoyed

17:01 ↗ the use of this

17:03 ↗ off leash area though it has been

17:04 ↗ temporary uh we're still looking at

17:07 ↗ trying to create a permanent

17:09 ↗ facility but we hope later it's q2 of

17:11 ↗ this year to get some more public

17:13 ↗ feedback

17:14 ↗ to really determine

17:16 ↗ what our next steps are going to be for

17:18 ↗ 2023 with that knowing

17:21 ↗ um the original site of the off leash

17:23 ↗ facility due to the delays from the

17:25 ↗ pandemic and the tibbetts valley park

17:27 ↗ master planning are going to be delayed

17:29 ↗ so look forward to more conversations on

17:32 ↗ that

17:41 ↗ all right jen thanks so much for for

17:43 ↗ that overview certainly a lot on the

17:45 ↗ park's admin park planning

17:48 ↗ front

17:49 ↗ i'll cover the the major work plan items

17:52 ↗ here and park operations these next

17:53 ↗ couple of slides

17:55 ↗ obviously our our park operations team

17:57 ↗ their their primary focus is effective

18:00 ↗ maintenance and stewardship of our parks

18:02 ↗ our trails and our open space system as

18:04 ↗ i said earlier

18:06 ↗ these initiatives over the next two

18:07 ↗ slides are

18:08 ↗ really additive and in addition to that

18:12 ↗ primary task of maintenance and

18:13 ↗ stewardship

18:16 ↗ uh this first item uh we will be going

18:19 ↗ through some recruitment and hiring um

18:21 ↗ unfortunately

18:22 ↗ uh the tail end of last year we we lost

18:25 ↗ some really key staff due to

18:30 ↗ some non-disciplinary um

18:35 ↗ actions um sorry i i can't get in into

18:39 ↗ too many details uh in in that regard

18:41 ↗ but um

18:42 ↗ it's meeting some uh some recruitment uh

18:45 ↗ within that group both for the park

18:47 ↗ operations manager position as well as a

18:50 ↗ number of maintenance worker two

18:51 ↗ positions both of those recruitments are

18:54 ↗ out

18:55 ↗ we're going to be interviewing

18:57 ↗ some strong candidates with within park

19:00 ↗ operations manager here

19:02 ↗ this week

19:04 ↗ and

19:05 ↗ maintenance worker 2 position

19:07 ↗ openings

19:09 ↗ close here next week and we'll begin

19:11 ↗ those recruitment or those interviews

19:15 ↗ in february

19:17 ↗ something we're doing with street

19:18 ↗ landscaping as you may know a majority

19:21 ↗ of the street landscaping maintenance is

19:23 ↗ handled by

19:24 ↗ the park operations team

19:27 ↗ as we've been spending a lot of time in

19:29 ↗ these last couple years really becoming

19:31 ↗ intentional in in where we want to focus

19:33 ↗ our

19:34 ↗ staff hours our very limited staff hours

19:37 ↗ we're making a a bit of a pivot this

19:39 ↗ year and we're going to pilot

19:42 ↗ consolidating

19:43 ↗ all of that streetscape street

19:45 ↗ landscaping work into one consolidated

19:48 ↗ contract

19:50 ↗ that will i think allow us to more

19:52 ↗ effectively manage that that singular

19:54 ↗ contract for street landscaping and then

19:56 ↗ also at the same time

19:58 ↗ strategically allow us to focus our

20:02 ↗ staff hours um

20:04 ↗ within our properties within our parks

20:06 ↗ within our open space and and trail

20:08 ↗ system um that continue to have

20:11 ↗ certainly priority maintenance needs as

20:12 ↗ well

20:14 ↗ uh so just a a a key um step in trying

20:17 ↗ to prioritize um who does what in terms

20:21 ↗ of of stewardship

20:23 ↗ green issaquah

20:25 ↗ and our

20:27 ↗ initiative that looks at

20:30 ↗ maintaining and stewarding our

20:33 ↗ our urban forest um in partnership with

20:35 ↗ forterra um it got into us got off to a

20:38 ↗ really strong start last year with

20:40 ↗ multiple stewards beginning their

20:42 ↗ volunteer work we

20:44 ↗ anticipate and look forward to continued

20:46 ↗ growth as we head into 2022

20:49 ↗ you should be able to anticipate i'm

20:51 ↗ hoping by our february park board

20:53 ↗ meeting

20:54 ↗ myself and matt meckler are working with

20:55 ↗ fortera we should have our 2021 annual

20:59 ↗ report uh from green issaquah put

21:01 ↗ together and and would love to to share

21:03 ↗ that with you

21:04 ↗ as park board and some of the progress

21:06 ↗ we made last year

21:08 ↗ uh pick ring barn um we are going to be

21:12 ↗ embarking on a

21:14 ↗ more focused grounds maintenance

21:16 ↗ planning around that barn in particular

21:19 ↗ the landscaping around that very very

21:22 ↗ iconic facility

21:23 ↗ we're seeking

21:25 ↗ really an outcome that gives us a much

21:27 ↗ more sustainable

21:28 ↗ and year-round consistency

21:30 ↗ with the maintenance

21:32 ↗ the landscape maintenance

21:34 ↗ around

21:35 ↗ around the barn

21:37 ↗ next slide brian

21:41 ↗ a couple other

21:42 ↗ major work plan items within park ops um

21:45 ↗ confluence park bridge uh you see the

21:47 ↗ photo there

21:49 ↗ um our iconic bridge we do have um some

21:52 ↗ artwork that was incorporated into the

21:54 ↗ concrete decking you may recall

21:56 ↗ we've been working closely with amy

21:58 ↗ dukes and the arts uh folks and the arts

22:01 ↗ commission on

22:02 ↗ um dealing with a bit of a repair issue

22:06 ↗ and that some of the

22:08 ↗ if you recall there's some glass inlaid

22:11 ↗ in into the decking itself uh for sort

22:14 ↗ of a

22:15 ↗ color and decorative um

22:18 ↗ component within the decking

22:20 ↗ uh some of that is coming loose and has

22:22 ↗ been coming loose so uh we're embarking

22:25 ↗ on some coordinated repairs of of that

22:28 ↗ work uh this year

22:29 ↗ uh

22:31 ↗ gonna do our next phase of tennis court

22:33 ↗ resurfacing we did some very successful

22:35 ↗ resurfacing efforts last year at

22:37 ↗ tibbetts valley park

22:39 ↗ um you'll see the photo there

22:41 ↗ with the new the new surfacing will now

22:43 ↗ be doing the same thing at central park

22:45 ↗ and blackberry park this year

22:47 ↗ and then lastly within park operations

22:49 ↗ team at upper hillside cemetery you may

22:52 ↗ recall

22:53 ↗ free pandemic

22:55 ↗ we'd been begun doing some diagnostic

22:57 ↗ work on parts of the upper hillside

22:59 ↗ cemetery where we've

23:01 ↗ seen some

23:04 ↗ excessive water in and um

23:09 ↗ sort of not good ground conditions uh we

23:12 ↗ are going to dig a little deeper dust

23:14 ↗ off some of that diagnostic work and

23:17 ↗ work with our

23:20 ↗ cemetery manager flintoffs through our

23:23 ↗ our

23:24 ↗ management agreement with them and

23:27 ↗ work towards not only diagnosis but some

23:30 ↗ solutions

23:31 ↗ to that

23:34 ↗ next slide and i'm going to hand it over

23:36 ↗ to our recreation manager brian

23:38 ↗ bernstein brian take it away hey thank

23:41 ↗ you jeff and good evening everybody it's

23:43 ↗ good to see a lot of you and to see some

23:45 ↗ new faces that's awesome

23:47 ↗ uh thank you for having me tonight once

23:49 ↗ again what jeff said i'm brian berson i

23:50 ↗ oversee the recreation services division

23:53 ↗ uh for those that don't know that would

23:54 ↗ be like the operations of the community

23:55 ↗ center the julius bone pool issaquah

23:58 ↗ senior center and pickering barn

24:01 ↗ we have the first topic is the

24:03 ↗ recruiting and hiring we have uh four

24:05 ↗ positions and just as a quick reminder

24:07 ↗ going into covet we had a reduction in

24:09 ↗ workforce of 7.5 staff so

24:12 ↗ you know it seems like forever ago that

24:14 ↗ that happened right and uh we're excited

24:16 ↗ that coming into 2022 we're going to get

24:18 ↗ some of those positions coming back

24:20 ↗ one of those is a senior center

24:22 ↗ supervisor

24:23 ↗ um down there we're working with our

24:25 ↗ seniors much needed position to just you

24:28 ↗ know be able to get some full time 40

24:29 ↗ hours a week commitment to working with

24:31 ↗ them

24:32 ↗ we have two recreation leader positions

24:35 ↗ that

24:35 ↗ are going to be coming back to us at the

24:37 ↗ community center and at the julius bone

24:39 ↗ pool

24:40 ↗ and then we have an administrative

24:41 ↗ specialist position they'll be coming to

24:43 ↗ us at the community center

24:46 ↗ um we have the julius boom pool

24:49 ↗ feasibility study this is uh i guess

24:51 ↗ this one it gets me excited this one's

24:53 ↗ really sort of cool um you know our

24:55 ↗ current demand exceeds our ability to

24:57 ↗ meet uh

24:59 ↗ to meet it right and uh for those that

25:00 ↗ have been around long enough i think we

25:02 ↗ we all know that's been the statement

25:04 ↗ that the pool has had for many many

25:05 ↗ years um

25:06 ↗ we we have one pool and there's a lot of

25:09 ↗ people that would love to see it uh to

25:10 ↗ be able to use it too

25:12 ↗ um because we support that that pool

25:14 ↗ supports three local three high schools

25:16 ↗ and one local swim team

25:18 ↗ it also runs a very robust learn to swim

25:21 ↗ program

25:22 ↗ so there's there's a lot going on in

25:24 ↗ that pool and it serves not only the

25:25 ↗ city of issaquah but it serves the

25:27 ↗ issaquah school district which includes

25:29 ↗ portions of some amish rent in bellevue

25:31 ↗ and newcastle

25:33 ↗ when you we heard that the issaquah

25:34 ↗ school district was considering looking

25:37 ↗ into a fourth high school

25:39 ↗ staff proactively

25:40 ↗ approached the escrow school district to

25:42 ↗ sort of talk to them about

25:44 ↗ you know letting them know we all know

25:46 ↗ there's been sort of limited uh aquatic

25:48 ↗ facilities and now with a new fourth

25:50 ↗ high school and a new fourth swim team

25:52 ↗ for boys and girls coming on board we

25:54 ↗ thought it would be a good time to begin

25:56 ↗ discussions with them about you know

25:57 ↗ what does our future maybe look like and

26:00 ↗ what we might want to be a little on the

26:01 ↗ front end of addressing those future

26:03 ↗ aquatic needs

26:05 ↗ so um

26:06 ↗ we began discussing with the school

26:08 ↗ district we've also applied now for a

26:11 ↗ uh oh gosh what's it called i might have

26:13 ↗ to look at my notes on that one

26:15 ↗ the king county parks levy grant for

26:17 ↗ funding to hire a consultant to conduct

26:20 ↗ a feasibility study that feasibility

26:22 ↗ study would be to see what would it what

26:24 ↗ would it look like to increase the

26:26 ↗ capacity of our existing pool how might

26:28 ↗ we

26:29 ↗ go about increasing our current pool

26:32 ↗ space and then primarily probably

26:33 ↗ looking at the

26:35 ↗ existing site as a potential you know

26:37 ↗ growth those that uh again i'll tap some

26:39 ↗ of those have been around for a while we

26:40 ↗ did a pool feasibility i think it was

26:42 ↗ back in 2009 and some of those concepts

26:45 ↗ included what would it look like if we

26:46 ↗ expanded the existing site what could we

26:48 ↗ do how can we gain some more you know

26:50 ↗ pool space for everybody to be able to

26:52 ↗ use so

26:54 ↗ that uh that works gonna be coming to us

26:56 ↗ here hopefully soon uh we haven't been

26:58 ↗ officially notified um that we've

27:01 ↗ received the grant but uh we're very

27:03 ↗ hopeful and and feel that it could be we

27:05 ↗ have a really high likelihood of

27:06 ↗ receiving that

27:08 ↗ um

27:10 ↗ oh i guess i'll go next time

27:11 ↗ multitasking here on my uh

27:14 ↗ i remember doing my own slide

27:16 ↗ uh the pickering barn hvac in the uh

27:20 ↗ this one this one was one that for years

27:23 ↗ we have had you know especially recently

27:25 ↗ right we set records this last summer

27:28 ↗ with 116 degrees having

27:30 ↗ in the dairy barn which is the big long

27:33 ↗ rectangular portion of the pickering

27:35 ↗ barn having

27:37 ↗ air conditioning in there will be you

27:39 ↗ know and creating some climate control

27:41 ↗ will be much uh

27:42 ↗ appreciated by our renter so we're

27:44 ↗ looking forward to looking into that

27:46 ↗ our um you know because it has heating

27:48 ↗ it just does not have air conditioning

27:50 ↗ then on the barn side of the pickering

27:53 ↗ barn it has it does not have heating or

27:55 ↗ air conditioning so we will be looking

27:57 ↗ at some options there too of what might

27:59 ↗ we be able to do to create that and make

28:01 ↗ that a little bit more comfortable

28:02 ↗ during those

28:03 ↗ extreme hot and extreme cold days so

28:06 ↗ that'll be part of our assessment

28:07 ↗ analysis as well

28:10 ↗ at our community center we're looking at

28:12 ↗ doing some

28:14 ↗ replacement of our cardiovascular

28:16 ↗ equipment um

28:17 ↗ it's it's at the end of its life it's

28:19 ↗ it's ready to be replaced so we're going

28:21 ↗ to be picking up uh

28:23 ↗ what are we picking up we're gonna be

28:24 ↗ picking up four treadmills two

28:26 ↗ elliptical trainers two recumbent bikes

28:28 ↗ two stationary bikes and one rowing

28:30 ↗ machine

28:32 ↗ the existing cardiovascular equipment we

28:34 ↗ have has gotten a really long life we

28:35 ↗ have a really good maintenance program

28:36 ↗ that we stay on top of so

28:38 ↗ we've gotten quite a few years out of

28:40 ↗ that equipment and we're really excited

28:42 ↗ to be able to uh you know bring some new

28:44 ↗ equipment in there for the patrons to

28:46 ↗ use and it's always well received when

28:48 ↗ we bring in new amenities

28:53 ↗ the

28:54 ↗ portable stage

28:56 ↗ this is another one that i think is

28:57 ↗ really exciting um

28:59 ↗ we of uh you know we've had a concert we

29:02 ↗ had a stage in front of the community

29:03 ↗ center for the concerts on the green

29:05 ↗ that

29:05 ↗ is is it's another one

29:07 ↗ it's at the end of its life i think it's

29:09 ↗ been at the end of its life for the past

29:10 ↗ five or ten years it's plywood and

29:13 ↗ different pieces of it our facility

29:14 ↗ services division has done a great job

29:16 ↗ of keeping it up and running

29:19 ↗ but you know we've always looked at and

29:21 ↗ tried to see the opportunities for maybe

29:23 ↗ having a portable stage at some point in

29:25 ↗ time and we've applied for a grant

29:27 ↗ through the washington parks and

29:28 ↗ recreation association in conjunction

29:30 ↗ with the association of washington

29:32 ↗ cities

29:33 ↗ for a the funding to purchase a portable

29:36 ↗ stage

29:38 ↗ if awarded the new stage would be used

29:40 ↗ for the concerts on the green and it

29:42 ↗ would also give us the flexibility to do

29:44 ↗ other park programming anywhere within

29:46 ↗ our system um you know the staging is

29:49 ↗ sort of that what goes on the back of a

29:51 ↗ one-ton pickup truck

29:52 ↗ and it's uh

29:54 ↗ yeah it just opens up and you create a

29:56 ↗ stage and it can be anywhere they're

29:57 ↗ really professionally well done you see

29:59 ↗ them a lot of times

30:00 ↗ at big you know like at salmon days you

30:02 ↗ see a lot of them on the streets and

30:04 ↗ whatnot so

30:05 ↗ we're excited we should find out next

30:07 ↗ couple weeks whether or not we receive

30:08 ↗ that grant and we've been meeting we've

30:11 ↗ done our research we've studied up on

30:13 ↗ the one we want so

30:15 ↗ when and if we get that funding we'll be

30:16 ↗ moving forward with that purchase

30:19 ↗ the recreation scholarship program i

30:22 ↗ believe that this was discussed back in

30:23 ↗ november on uh 22nd with the board and

30:27 ↗ appreciate the support for that

30:29 ↗ i don't know if you want me to continue

30:31 ↗ like should i cover that one i could

30:33 ↗ give a quick review for those that don't

30:35 ↗ know about it maybe

30:39 ↗ ryan i think everyone was familiar i i

30:41 ↗ would just you know

30:43 ↗ add that you and i had a chance to have

30:44 ↗ an initial conversation with city

30:46 ↗ council last week very supportive we

30:48 ↗ went to council to get some additional

30:51 ↗ feedback on

30:54 ↗ some additional modifications council

30:57 ↗ echoed the support that you all had as

30:59 ↗ part board in terms of transitioning to

31:01 ↗ this

31:03 ↗ fee reduction model allowing us to

31:05 ↗ reduce fees as opposed to relying solely

31:08 ↗ on

31:10 ↗ revenues available

31:12 ↗ for scholarships so a lot of good

31:15 ↗ progress by the recreation team there

31:16 ↗ great feedback from council we're hoping

31:19 ↗ um in february to get action on that

31:21 ↗ modification so we're ready to

31:23 ↗ jump into spring summer with a new

31:26 ↗ scholarship program

31:28 ↗ yeah that would be

31:29 ↗ outstanding

31:31 ↗ that free reduction model's a really

31:32 ↗ solid model next set thanks again for

31:34 ↗ the support of the park board on that

31:36 ↗ one

31:36 ↗ um the athletic field and uh park rental

31:39 ↗ procedures sort of uh reviewing and

31:41 ↗ assessing that

31:42 ↗ um in 20.2 we're going to be looking at

31:44 ↗ uh you know what what reviewing our ball

31:47 ↗ field and shelter rental practices and

31:49 ↗ adjusting as needed to streamline

31:50 ↗ processes for the use of our public you

31:53 ↗ know field spaces and structures um some

31:55 ↗ of the some of the assessment items that

31:57 ↗ we're going to be thinking about you

31:58 ↗ know is you know how are we managing you

32:00 ↗ know in comparison to other cities you

32:02 ↗ know how are men how are they managing

32:03 ↗ their ball fields their shelters their

32:05 ↗ their special event spaces you know how

32:08 ↗ are we defining our spaces and how are

32:10 ↗ those spaces being used

32:12 ↗ what does their application look like

32:14 ↗ you know how are we using them um how do

32:16 ↗ we how do we manage field allocations

32:18 ↗ you know how are other cities going

32:20 ↗ about their distribution of fields to

32:21 ↗ different entities and organizations um

32:24 ↗ and then reviewing policies and

32:25 ↗ procedures for our rented spaces and and

32:28 ↗ comparing those with other cities just

32:29 ↗ to sort of see where we're all lining up

32:31 ↗ with one another you know it's just a

32:32 ↗ good chance to review and benchmark

32:33 ↗ ourselves with how we're doing it and

32:35 ↗ comparing with our neighboring cities to

32:37 ↗ make sure we're in alignment and coming

32:39 ↗ into align with best practices

32:41 ↗ so you know our goal is always to

32:43 ↗ provide us the best services we can to

32:45 ↗ enhance our customer service and make

32:47 ↗ those public spaces easier for people to

32:48 ↗ use

32:50 ↗ so

32:50 ↗ i believe that covers all the recreation

32:53 ↗ services topics lots of good stuff

32:55 ↗ happening there

32:57 ↗ it does brian thanks so much and that

32:59 ↗ last item the the athletic field and

33:02 ↗ park rental um assessment uh thank you

33:05 ↗ melissa ching she will be leading that

33:07 ↗ effort and that analysis so

33:10 ↗ thank you jen thank you brian um lots of

33:14 ↗ as you can see uh key initiatives key

33:17 ↗ investments in our facilities our parks

33:19 ↗ and our services in 2022

33:22 ↗ i just finished with this slide and then

33:24 ↗ open it up for any questions you might

33:25 ↗ have

33:26 ↗ um you know of all the all the stuff we

33:28 ↗ do all the services we provide outward

33:30 ↗ facing services to this great community

33:33 ↗ it really comes down to two key things

33:35 ↗ we invest in people and we invest in

33:37 ↗ public places and and we do it through

33:41 ↗ quality dedicated staff and partners so

33:44 ↗ many community partners and non-profit

33:46 ↗ partners

33:48 ↗ so

33:49 ↗ we look forward to jumping into jumping

33:52 ↗ into 2022.

33:54 ↗ thanks so much with that um any

33:56 ↗ questions comments

33:58 ↗ i had a question

34:01 ↗ hey brian can you take down the

34:03 ↗ powerpoint so we can see everyone

34:05 ↗ absolutely

34:07 ↗ thanks

34:09 ↗ go ahead roman

34:10 ↗ yeah the question i had was um you

34:12 ↗ covered quite a few facilities um you

34:14 ↗ didn't mention tips creek manor i'm just

34:16 ↗ wondering how that's working

34:18 ↗ the facility and it's still in good

34:20 ↗ shape and looks pretty good from the

34:21 ↗ outside

34:25 ↗ tibbetts creek manor we are not um

34:28 ↗ operating that as a rental facility uh

34:30 ↗ so as part of the pandemic and as as

34:33 ↗ brian said some of the really really

34:35 ↗ hard

34:36 ↗ uh decisions that needed to be made one

34:38 ↗ of those was um

34:40 ↗ no longer operating uh the manor as a

34:43 ↗ rental facility as an event facility and

34:45 ↗ so

34:46 ↗ um that is not

34:49 ↗ currently happening right now

34:52 ↗ it is being used as some auxiliary space

34:55 ↗ for city staff as we're transitioning

34:58 ↗ out of city hall northwest but we do not

35:00 ↗ have a

35:01 ↗ recreation staff or a recreation

35:03 ↗ presence there at that at that site

35:05 ↗ anymore

35:07 ↗ great thanks yep

35:09 ↗ any other questions

35:10 ↗ thanks for the question reuben i i'm

35:12 ↗ tempted to go back to the that closing

35:14 ↗ picture of of one of our summer concerts

35:16 ↗ uh

35:17 ↗ i was going to say there's a there's a

35:18 ↗ park board member

35:20 ↗ um

35:21 ↗ hidden in that in that photo and i just

35:24 ↗ gave it away it's it's reuben um but

35:26 ↗ just so appreciate reuben you're you

35:28 ↗ were there as a kawanian and uh just

35:31 ↗ that key partnership with uh

35:33 ↗ those summer concerts um i was gonna i

35:36 ↗ was gonna point you out but i'm not

35:37 ↗ gonna do it now since this slide's no

35:38 ↗ longer up

35:41 ↗ was reuben dancing or he was just

35:43 ↗ standing there i actually was there as a

35:45 ↗ hippie i i put a wig on and a tie-dye

35:47 ↗ shirt

35:49 ↗ look at the royal blue shirt near the

35:51 ↗ speaker i think there is some slight

35:52 ↗ dancing going

35:57 ↗ a great getting you to on it

35:58 ↗ danielle do i see you had a question

36:02 ↗ yeah i have a few a couple questions um

36:04 ↗ mostly

36:05 ↗ involving veterans memorial field and

36:07 ↗ sort of that that plan um

36:12 ↗ i as i understand it that feel that that

36:15 ↗ park has been used as a kind of as an

36:17 ↗ athletic field and gathering community

36:20 ↗ kind of gathering event space for like

36:22 ↗ 100 years

36:24 ↗ um and so it strikes me as the

36:28 ↗ the

36:29 ↗ that the order of

36:31 ↗ kind of the

36:32 ↗ the order that i would like to see at

36:34 ↗ least us engage

36:36 ↗ in

36:36 ↗ in this would be to complete the

36:39 ↗ athletic field

36:41 ↗ inventory first

36:43 ↗ um because

36:45 ↗ that will i think be critical in what

36:48 ↗ we're going to do with be able to do or

36:51 ↗ need to do with tibbetts and veterans

36:53 ↗ memorial field

36:55 ↗ so it strikes me that we need to do the

36:57 ↗ inventory first

36:59 ↗ and then

37:00 ↗ look at veterans memorial field and kind

37:02 ↗ of

37:03 ↗ do that process and that there's not an

37:05 ↗ urgency to do veterans memorial field

37:07 ↗ first because whatever

37:09 ↗ plan we develop as i understand it we

37:12 ↗ probably don't have the funds for it at

37:13 ↗ this point

37:14 ↗ um i mean it could be wrong but

37:17 ↗ um

37:18 ↗ so that's i would like to see that i'd

37:19 ↗ also like to see

37:21 ↗ um

37:24 ↗ have us be more educated as a board

37:27 ↗ about

37:28 ↗ the history of veterans memorial field

37:30 ↗ and perhaps we could get someone from

37:32 ↗ the historical society to come and

37:35 ↗ share some information um

37:37 ↗ i know i did a i did a public records

37:39 ↗ request last fall um

37:42 ↗ and so i have a bit more information for

37:44 ↗ my own education but i think it would be

37:46 ↗ good to have that have us all on the

37:48 ↗ same page um

37:50 ↗ and then um

37:54 ↗ oh i would really i also think um

37:57 ↗ the inventory

37:59 ↗ one of the things that we've learned

38:00 ↗ during covid is that although we have a

38:03 ↗ great relationship with the school

38:04 ↗ district and we are able to use their

38:06 ↗ fields and their um

38:09 ↗ facilities

38:10 ↗ there are times where we can't right as

38:13 ↗ a community and so we had that this time

38:16 ↗ in the last couple years and so i think

38:18 ↗ that we need to as we're doing our

38:20 ↗ inventory now in my head at least

38:22 ↗ mentally i have an asterisk next to that

38:24 ↗ the school district facilities because

38:27 ↗ you know for example

38:29 ↗ um

38:30 ↗ our our system our park system doesn't

38:33 ↗ have any

38:34 ↗ high school-sized baseball fields we

38:37 ↗ always just you know community groups

38:39 ↗ are able to use the high school field

38:41 ↗ but when the high school field isn't

38:43 ↗ available there's nowhere for

38:45 ↗ uh

38:47 ↗ you know that we have our our kids have

38:49 ↗ to go up to redmond or or another

38:51 ↗ jurisdiction

38:53 ↗ so um i just want to kind of keep that

38:55 ↗ in mind and then um jen i would love us

38:58 ↗ to be able to see the survey that goes

39:00 ↗ out before like a draft survey or just

39:02 ↗ kind of like go through the survey as

39:05 ↗ our board before it goes out to the

39:07 ↗ public because i feel like a lot of

39:09 ↗ times when we do the surveys the way

39:11 ↗ that we're looking at some of the

39:13 ↗ questions um

39:14 ↗ and the answers that we we're looking to

39:17 ↗ get um not that we're looking to get

39:19 ↗ answers but

39:20 ↗ we might be asking a slightly different

39:22 ↗ question or have a follow-up question so

39:24 ↗ i'd really appreciate it if we had a

39:25 ↗ chance to

39:26 ↗ take a look at those before they go out

39:29 ↗ thanks that was a lot but

39:31 ↗ a lot of good points danielle thanks for

39:33 ↗ that

39:34 ↗ if i could just add before thank you

39:36 ↗ danielle great points really appreciate

39:38 ↗ that um you're absolutely right you know

39:40 ↗ the the

39:41 ↗ the sequencing of that works going to be

39:43 ↗ important uh to whatever degree gets

39:45 ↗ started with veterans memorial it will

39:47 ↗ not

39:48 ↗ will be nowhere near sort of completion

39:50 ↗ or recommendations until um that sports

39:53 ↗ field assessment is done and we really

39:55 ↗ get a sense of

39:57 ↗ of of needs

39:59 ↗ priorities

40:00 ↗ opportunities for improvements

40:02 ↗ your point about the school district is

40:04 ↗ spot on it's why it's really important

40:07 ↗ that not only we look at

40:09 ↗ the facilities themselves but access to

40:11 ↗ those facilities and how we might

40:14 ↗ look at either through what what are

40:16 ↗ some of the existing constraints to

40:18 ↗ community access to some of those school

40:20 ↗ district facilities and how we might

40:22 ↗ either through agreements or or

40:24 ↗ something

40:26 ↗ understand

40:27 ↗ um

40:28 ↗ those public investments

40:30 ↗ and access to those public investments

40:32 ↗ are likely going to be really really

40:33 ↗ important for a pretty land-constrained

40:37 ↗ community

40:38 ↗ to address

40:39 ↗ athletic field needs now and and into

40:41 ↗ the future

40:43 ↗ so

40:44 ↗ appreciate all those points

40:46 ↗ i guess as i follow up to that the

40:47 ↗ reason i'm concerned about the timing

40:49 ↗ for veterans memorial is that when we

40:51 ↗ went through this process a couple years

40:53 ↗ ago three years ago i guess we kind of

40:55 ↗ got it started um

40:59 ↗ you know when

41:00 ↗ the initial proposals that came back to

41:02 ↗ us um

41:04 ↗ didn't include

41:06 ↗ any

41:07 ↗ excuse me any actual fields right and i

41:10 ↗ think that through the process we have

41:12 ↗ we ended up with one that did have have

41:14 ↗ a field in there but um and a field

41:17 ↗ meaning in my mind being like an

41:18 ↗ athletic field of some sort

41:20 ↗ um and so i just want to make sure we

41:22 ↗ don't get too far along in the process

41:24 ↗ before we know what our community needs

41:26 ↗ are and and before we understand the

41:29 ↗ historical kind of like the tradition at

41:32 ↗ that at that park and can decide like

41:34 ↗ whether it's appropriate to deviate from

41:36 ↗ that or to honor that by kind of

41:38 ↗ continuing in the same

41:41 ↗ the same uh

41:43 ↗ you know in the same sort of athletic

41:45 ↗ and community

41:47 ↗ event kind of nature

41:49 ↗ absolutely as a as a play field as a

41:51 ↗ sports field yep great points

41:54 ↗ as a community gathering space as i as i

41:56 ↗ understand it it has been for all this

41:58 ↗ time too yep yep all of the above yep

42:02 ↗ yeah i really like the idea of getting

42:04 ↗ maybe erica from the historical museum

42:07 ↗ involved to give us a presentation when

42:10 ↗ we get started with that that would be

42:11 ↗ really good

42:13 ↗ great idea

42:15 ↗ any other comments or questions on this

42:17 ↗ agenda item

42:20 ↗ i'm not seeing any hands i have a couple

42:22 ↗ things um

42:24 ↗ [Music]

42:26 ↗ park ops manager is that a new position

42:29 ↗ or is that a replacement of one that you

42:31 ↗ just got started on last year

42:34 ↗ uh that's a replacement of of someone

42:36 ↗ who was on board last year uh but at the

42:38 ↗ same position yep

42:41 ↗ and um

42:43 ↗ the confluence bridge

42:45 ↗ jennifer's probably getting tired of

42:47 ↗ hearing from me on this issue but it's a

42:49 ↗ good it's a good timing issue since

42:51 ↗ we're going to get the arts commission

42:53 ↗ or the arts department involved

42:55 ↗ to do some repairs as a part of that

42:58 ↗ there was always a an interpretive

43:01 ↗ panel that was supposed to be in place

43:03 ↗ uh i believe

43:05 ↗ to

43:06 ↗ help describe the artwork the mayfly

43:10 ↗ aspect and the importance of that with

43:12 ↗ salmon and all of that this would be a

43:13 ↗ really good opportunity and timing to

43:17 ↗ pursue that further to try and include

43:19 ↗ that within the work of uh repairs that

43:22 ↗ are put on the bridge i don't know if

43:24 ↗ there's

43:25 ↗ i don't know where that's at the artist

43:27 ↗ has probably disappeared at this point

43:28 ↗ we may need to

43:30 ↗ find somebody else to do it i don't know

43:32 ↗ but

43:33 ↗ hi brad

43:34 ↗ jennifer can gladly answer that and

43:37 ↗ you're um

43:38 ↗ asking the question is very timely

43:40 ↗ because i just had this conversation two

43:42 ↗ weeks ago with amy herself

43:44 ↗ um

43:45 ↗ we need to um

43:48 ↗ work another game plan to try and get

43:50 ↗ the information from the artist but amy

43:53 ↗ and i will work on that and do it as

43:55 ↗ part of the the bridge deck project we

43:58 ↗ are going to be including that um

44:01 ↗ again um

44:05 ↗ yes you know

44:07 ↗ just hasn't been a high priority on

44:09 ↗ their end but uh we will do what we can

44:11 ↗ to get a nice descriptor up um about the

44:15 ↗ artwork

44:16 ↗ appreciate that jan and amy being amy

44:19 ↗ duke's arts arts coordinator with the

44:21 ↗ city

44:23 ↗ right

44:26 ↗ okay let's uh move on anybody else have

44:28 ↗ any questions or comments on this one

44:31 ↗ i've seen anything okay let's move on oh

44:33 ↗ we got one thing

44:34 ↗ two two quick things um one is i'm super

44:36 ↗ excited about the full feasibility study

44:39 ↗ um

44:40 ↗ i mean i have a copy of it here if you

44:42 ↗ need it like the last one we did but

44:44 ↗ hopefully we can use that as a starting

44:46 ↗ point or at least you know dot dot

44:48 ↗ starter um and then with the field and

44:51 ↗ not the field inventory but the

44:53 ↗ kind of the audit or the comparisons to

44:55 ↗ other communities

44:57 ↗ um who's going to be doing that

45:01 ↗ the one where you're going to see

45:04 ↗ in terms of field rentals are sort of

45:06 ↗ our

45:07 ↗ field rental

45:08 ↗ yeah

45:09 ↗ uh melissa will be leading that effort

45:11 ↗ with our athletics team as well

45:14 ↗ in terms of you know it's more how how

45:17 ↗ we

45:18 ↗ how we handle both field rentals how we

45:21 ↗ do parks

45:22 ↗ picnic shelter rentals and in many ways

45:24 ↗ how we look at a general sort of

45:26 ↗ community event park rentals as well um

45:31 ↗ okay great

45:32 ↗ thanks

45:35 ↗ okay let's move on our next um agenda

45:39 ↗ item is uh talking about the capital

45:42 ↗ capital finance task force

45:45 ↗ and uh jeff do you want me to kick this

45:47 ↗ off or do you want to get started

45:49 ↗ i know you have something to present

45:52 ↗ yeah no brad thanks i i think it'd be

45:54 ↗ great for you to give an update and talk

45:56 ↗ through some of the ad hoc discussions

45:57 ↗ with with reuben and danielle and zach

46:00 ↗ and then i'm happy to give an overview

46:02 ↗ of sort of what a park district is like

46:04 ↗ we shared with the funding task force

46:06 ↗ okay

46:08 ↗ so let me give you a little bit of an

46:09 ↗ update where we're at here um the task

46:12 ↗ force got started in september

46:14 ↗ we're a little bit behind but

46:17 ↗ not too far we anticipate probably three

46:20 ↗ more meetings before we get to the final

46:23 ↗ recommendation stage to the city council

46:26 ↗ uh our next meeting is uh this wednesday

46:30 ↗ um and then we have two more meetings uh

46:33 ↗ uh in february and then that probably

46:35 ↗ should be the end of it

46:38 ↗ um

46:39 ↗ we're now kind of in the meat of it at

46:41 ↗ this point in terms of recommendations

46:43 ↗ on the top three priorities that being

46:46 ↗ transportation parks and facilities

46:52 ↗ i really appreciate the involvement of

46:55 ↗ the ad hoc team that has been very

46:57 ↗ helpful with discussions uh with

47:00 ↗ danielle and reuben and zach and myself

47:05 ↗ and i really appreciate jennifer and

47:07 ↗ jeff being

47:08 ↗ in our meetings as well to give

47:12 ↗ a staffing

47:14 ↗ aspect to it

47:18 ↗ kind of our last meeting at the ad hoc

47:20 ↗ team

47:22 ↗ we kind of reached agreement to some

47:24 ↗ extent as to what we think needs to be

47:27 ↗ pursued further to look into

47:31 ↗ the potential for a metropolitan

47:34 ↗ parks district as being

47:37 ↗ probably the

47:39 ↗ uh

47:40 ↗ the best opportunity for future funding

47:43 ↗ in parks

47:45 ↗ we had some discussion about

47:48 ↗ bonds which we've used

47:51 ↗ twice in the last two decades

47:54 ↗ uh and

47:55 ↗ that has potential again um there our

47:58 ↗ last one was in 2013 so we're nearing

48:01 ↗ into that

48:03 ↗ nine ten year period of time where if we

48:06 ↗ were going to do another bond we now

48:08 ↗ would be kind of the time to consider

48:10 ↗ that again

48:11 ↗ in our ad hoc meeting we talked about

48:14 ↗ the need for something more

48:16 ↗ long-term and sustainable because what

48:19 ↗ happens with these bonds is we get a

48:21 ↗ like our last one was 10 million dollars

48:24 ↗ we burned through that within a matter

48:26 ↗ of a few years to get a number of good

48:29 ↗ things accomplished

48:31 ↗ but then you go several years without

48:33 ↗ any funds and

48:36 ↗ here we are now sitting with a six-year

48:38 ↗ cip that about 27 million dollars worth

48:42 ↗ of projects is unfunded

48:45 ↗ and looking beyond that

48:48 ↗ in terms of future years beyond the

48:50 ↗ six-year cip

48:52 ↗ there's about 102 million dollars in

48:55 ↗ unfunded projects

48:57 ↗ all of these projects actually came from

49:00 ↗ the strategic plan that we developed a

49:02 ↗ few years ago which was a 20-year plan

49:06 ↗ and so the intention would be to

49:08 ↗ actually have something in place

49:10 ↗ in this park district would be a good

49:12 ↗ opportunity to have something in place

49:14 ↗ for some additional funding

49:16 ↗ perhaps over the next 20 years and

49:19 ↗ beyond

49:21 ↗ jeff clarified that we can actually

49:25 ↗ make it pretty specific much like a bond

49:27 ↗ in terms of

49:29 ↗ the various things that we would want to

49:30 ↗ accomplish with that funding

49:33 ↗ so the community would have a better

49:35 ↗ understanding in terms of what those

49:37 ↗ funds would be used for

49:41 ↗ so in any of that that's kind of where

49:42 ↗ we're at and um

49:45 ↗ we had talked about

49:47 ↗ a little this is a little bit of

49:48 ↗ nitty-gritty here i suppose but um

49:51 ↗ it would probably be in the neighborhood

49:53 ↗ of um

49:55 ↗ possibly 15 cents to 30 cents per

50:00 ↗ thousand

50:01 ↗ uh which would be how the levy would be

50:06 ↗ set up

50:07 ↗ to

50:08 ↗ pay for this

50:09 ↗ and we have a lot more work to do to

50:12 ↗ determine what that number would be

50:15 ↗ and also how the community would support

50:19 ↗ it if they would support it

50:22 ↗ if we were to get something within that

50:24 ↗ range

50:25 ↗ in addition to

50:28 ↗ grants

50:29 ↗ you know that are available for a

50:30 ↗ variety of projects

50:32 ↗ that would actually get us real close to

50:34 ↗ satisfying the unfunded

50:37 ↗ aspects of our parks over the next 20

50:41 ↗ years

50:42 ↗ um

50:44 ↗ so that's kind of an overview

50:46 ↗ again i think the ad hoc we were all in

50:49 ↗ agreement uh that it's worthy of

50:52 ↗ looking further into a parks district as

50:55 ↗ being

50:56 ↗ the future funding opportunity

50:59 ↗ you know that we've probably been

51:02 ↗ in need for for some time so

51:04 ↗ so this is good time to kind of segue

51:07 ↗ into jeff maybe talking a little more

51:09 ↗ specifically about that park district

51:11 ↗ but before we do that anybody have any

51:14 ↗ questions or comments about what i just

51:17 ↗ commented about

51:21 ↗ and not seeing anything

51:23 ↗ jeff why don't you take it from there

51:27 ↗ i will thanks thanks brad and and uh

51:31 ↗ yeah equally so reuben zach danielle

51:34 ↗ thank you as well for your time

51:38 ↗ serving on the ad hoc group but brad

51:40 ↗ especially thanks for your your

51:42 ↗ willingness to jump onto the

51:44 ↗ the bigger task force the capital

51:45 ↗ financing task force

51:47 ↗ to really i think tackle some big

51:49 ↗ questions and how this

51:51 ↗ community wants to invest in

51:54 ↗ um in your

51:56 ↗ transportation system your

51:58 ↗ parks and open space system as well

52:01 ↗ melissa if you want to allow me to share

52:04 ↗ i will

52:06 ↗ then

52:07 ↗ jump on and and what i'm going to do is

52:09 ↗ is quickly give give an overview of a

52:12 ↗ powerpoint presentation that i shared

52:17 ↗ to the capital financing task force last

52:20 ↗ fall

52:23 ↗ see if i do this right

52:28 ↗ all right

52:30 ↗ i think you can all see that

52:34 ↗ switch it to present mode

52:37 ↗ and we're off and running so i had the

52:39 ↗ chance to share this like i said last

52:40 ↗ fall

52:41 ↗ um

52:42 ↗ this is just a quick number of pages

52:44 ↗ i'll provide an overview it i think

52:47 ↗ helps to just sort of paint the picture

52:49 ↗ of what a park district is there's been

52:51 ↗ a lot of

52:52 ↗ recent rule changes over the last 10

52:54 ↗ years that that give communities really

52:56 ↗ added added flexibility for what a park

52:59 ↗ district can do

53:01 ↗ there's an rcw rcw 35 that allows this

53:04 ↗ special local taxing authority to

53:06 ↗ improve maintain and support parks and

53:08 ↗ recreation facilities

53:11 ↗ immensely flexible in that

53:14 ↗ it can be specific and support specific

53:17 ↗ park funding needs for for any

53:20 ↗ given community that's considering this

53:23 ↗ as brad mentioned this is something that

53:25 ↗ goes to the voters it needs to be voter

53:27 ↗ approved

53:28 ↗ it becomes

53:29 ↗ long-term and in some cases can be

53:32 ↗ permanent

53:33 ↗ a permanent funding source

53:35 ↗ to support a community's

53:37 ↗ parks and recreation priorities

53:41 ↗ what the legislation does

53:43 ↗ as opposed to

53:45 ↗ a bond that is basically like putting

53:47 ↗ money on the credit card or a levy that

53:50 ↗ is

53:51 ↗ really just a limited term funding

53:53 ↗ source this creates a junior taxing

53:55 ↗ district

53:57 ↗ and that junior taxing district has has

54:00 ↗ a different set of rules

54:02 ↗ within

54:04 ↗ the property tax

54:06 ↗ limitations that the state sets senior

54:09 ↗ taxing districts are

54:11 ↗ cities and counties

54:13 ↗ and then

54:15 ↗ any other districts library districts

54:17 ↗ fire districts park districts

54:20 ↗ fall as junior taxing districts under

54:23 ↗ those uh rules and limitations

54:26 ↗ thankfully in working with the finance

54:28 ↗ department as the city and the community

54:30 ↗ even considers this there's there's

54:32 ↗ ample funding authority within those

54:35 ↗ limitations

54:37 ↗ for uh the community to consider

54:39 ↗ something like this to consider a park

54:41 ↗ district

54:43 ↗ what is this aqua's capacity that was

54:45 ↗ one of the questions of of

54:47 ↗ um capacity sort of for earning the rate

54:50 ↗ of earning

54:51 ↗ based on 2021 assessed valuations uh

54:54 ↗ citywide

54:56 ↗ for every 10 cents per 1000

54:59 ↗ dollars per capita or

55:02 ↗ a thousand dollars of av of assessed

55:04 ↗ valuation every 10 cents would equate to

55:06 ↗ about 1.2 million dollars annually

55:10 ↗ in revenue

55:13 ↗ went the wrong way sorry

55:17 ↗ some considerations when thinking about

55:20 ↗ um

55:21 ↗ what this option would be and in some

55:23 ↗ ways this sort of sets into

55:26 ↗ motion what is some of the continual

55:28 ↗ work what is some of the

55:30 ↗ the further engagement the further

55:31 ↗ exploration that would be needed to be

55:34 ↗ able to even answer

55:37 ↗ what a park district might look like in

55:39 ↗ a community like issaquah

55:42 ↗ first is obviously what are the

55:43 ↗ priorities what's the project

55:44 ↗ identification like i said in the first

55:47 ↗ slide with legislation the legislation

55:49 ↗ is immensely flexible it can pay for

55:52 ↗ capital it can pay for operational

55:54 ↗ priorities

55:57 ↗ but really sort of engaging with the

55:59 ↗ community as to what the priorities are

56:02 ↗ and and um

56:05 ↗ and sort of the why

56:07 ↗ the boundaries of the park district are

56:08 ↗ another uh really important

56:10 ↗ consideration uh that again there's

56:12 ↗ flexibility within this legislation

56:15 ↗ there are a number of options that that

56:17 ↗ could be considered

56:18 ↗ for boundaries

56:21 ↗ there are examples around us where the

56:24 ↗ boundaries are not

56:27 ↗ a specific city boundary but they're

56:31 ↗ a different compilation of a boundary

56:33 ↗ there's other examples around us recent

56:35 ↗ examples where communities went out for

56:37 ↗ a park district and they used their city

56:40 ↗ boundary

56:42 ↗ those trade-offs bring with it

56:44 ↗ um sort of a varying degree of of of

56:47 ↗ complications because in some ways the

56:49 ↗ third bullet along with identifying

56:53 ↗ boundaries of a district there are

56:55 ↗ specific requirements within the

56:57 ↗ legislation for governance of that park

56:59 ↗ district and oversight of that park

57:01 ↗ district so

57:03 ↗ in some ways this works closely with the

57:05 ↗ boundaries in that

57:07 ↗ you need to set up

57:08 ↗ a district i should say a park district

57:10 ↗ needs to set up a governing body

57:13 ↗ so if per se

57:15 ↗ park district boundaries were a

57:19 ↗ similar reflection of a city boundary

57:22 ↗ then the acting city council could also

57:24 ↗ serve as that park board

57:28 ↗ if it is a different boundary set

57:30 ↗ there's different rules that apply in

57:32 ↗ some cases a whole new elected park

57:34 ↗ board would need to be created

57:37 ↗ so do you want to create

57:39 ↗ sort of redundancy of governance or

57:42 ↗ consider a whole new governance group

57:44 ↗ for for a park district again important

57:46 ↗ important

57:48 ↗ factors

57:49 ↗ that a community would any community

57:51 ↗ would need to consider

57:52 ↗ um another key consideration obviously

57:55 ↗ much like a bond or a levy is is

57:58 ↗ engagement

58:00 ↗ surveying

58:01 ↗ around level of funding

58:03 ↗ and timing of a public vote since this

58:05 ↗ is something that would go to the voters

58:08 ↗ and not only that engagement but

58:10 ↗ analysis of that engagement

58:13 ↗ the last consideration is really

58:15 ↗ important

58:16 ↗ sort of thinking beyond the vote and

58:18 ↗ that's what's the relationship of the

58:19 ↗ park district to other city funding for

58:22 ↗ parks and recreation

58:25 ↗ i'll mention on the last slide some

58:26 ↗ recent models

58:29 ↗ with the the new um

58:31 ↗ legislation that's been out the last 10

58:33 ↗ years there's some re recent models

58:35 ↗ where cities city of seattle and city of

58:37 ↗ olympia did some important work to

58:40 ↗ ensure

58:41 ↗ continued investment by the city in

58:44 ↗ parks and recreation both operationally

58:46 ↗ and capital but ensuring that continued

58:49 ↗ investment and seeing the district as

58:52 ↗ an

58:52 ↗ as additional investment and not

58:55 ↗ supplanting

58:57 ↗ historic funds for new park district

58:59 ↗ funds but all really really important

59:01 ↗ factors to to consider

59:07 ↗ um

59:09 ↗ i'll go over these pretty quickly um

59:12 ↗ again shared with the task force and in

59:14 ↗ some ways and brad knows this the

59:15 ↗ context of the task force these are

59:17 ↗ really just affirming in some ways

59:20 ↗ if if the city is to consider

59:24 ↗ something like a park district as a

59:25 ↗ funding source there are some really

59:26 ↗ important next steps

59:28 ↗ and a number of next steps that need to

59:30 ↗ happen

59:31 ↗ as i was saying on the last side a lot

59:32 ↗ of this exploration and scoping

59:35 ↗ would be necessary a lot of community

59:37 ↗ engagement around that

59:39 ↗ um

59:39 ↗ [Music]

59:40 ↗ once

59:41 ↗ not only those consideration questions

59:43 ↗ that were in the in the previous bullets

59:45 ↗ but but either even other factors are

59:48 ↗ identified

59:49 ↗ um if it's something that moves forward

59:52 ↗ that is a recommendation that would move

59:53 ↗ forward to city council for city council

59:56 ↗ action

59:57 ↗ uh much like a bond or a levy once the

1:00:00 ↗ the legislative body in this case the

1:00:02 ↗ city council took action on that

1:00:05 ↗ that would immediately change

1:00:08 ↗ the community engagement into a campaign

1:00:11 ↗ and public vote

1:00:13 ↗ there's important

1:00:14 ↗ factors of sort of city involvement that

1:00:17 ↗ that pivot that change once something

1:00:20 ↗ becomes a campaign

1:00:22 ↗ similar very similar to a bond and a

1:00:24 ↗ levy

1:00:26 ↗ another

1:00:27 ↗ next step would be exploring ideas again

1:00:30 ↗ depending on boundary depending on

1:00:32 ↗ governance decisions

1:00:34 ↗ putting in place an interlocal agreement

1:00:36 ↗ that helps to establish what that

1:00:38 ↗ governance bottle model looks like

1:00:40 ↗ between the city

1:00:43 ↗ and this eventual park district

1:00:46 ↗ the two examples i mentioned earlier

1:00:49 ↗ seattle and olympia

1:00:51 ↗ have some terrific interlocal agreements

1:00:54 ↗ that the city and the district entered

1:00:57 ↗ into again to sort of look at

1:00:59 ↗ long-term funding um ensuring the

1:01:02 ↗ establishment

1:01:03 ↗ of

1:01:04 ↗ continued i should say continuation of

1:01:06 ↗ existing investment that those cities

1:01:08 ↗ are making in parks and recreation

1:01:11 ↗ as a park district is informed

1:01:13 ↗ and then another key step

1:01:15 ↗ within

1:01:16 ↗ sort of the requirements of a park

1:01:18 ↗ district are

1:01:19 ↗ there would be

1:01:21 ↗ oversight requirements

1:01:23 ↗ and then annual reporting

1:01:25 ↗ that needs to be done

1:01:27 ↗ in conjunction with that

1:01:30 ↗ with that park district

1:01:33 ↗ and then just last slide

1:01:36 ↗ identifies a couple of resources that we

1:01:38 ↗ shared with the task force and certainly

1:01:40 ↗ wanted to share with you tonight or

1:01:41 ↗ anybody that might be watching this

1:01:45 ↗ websites both for on the seattle website

1:01:48 ↗ for the seattle park district have some

1:01:49 ↗ terrific resources not only for how they

1:01:52 ↗ formed their district but

1:01:54 ↗ uh now that that's been going for a

1:01:55 ↗ while what some of their annual annual

1:01:57 ↗ reporting looks like

1:01:59 ↗ olympia 2 has a website on their

1:02:02 ↗ park district that was established in it

1:02:05 ↗ in a similar vein

1:02:06 ↗ to seattle and that they they looked at

1:02:09 ↗ sort of their city boundaries as

1:02:12 ↗ um

1:02:13 ↗ as the formation of that district

1:02:20 ↗ and that's it a super quick overview so

1:02:23 ↗ i will stop sharing

1:02:28 ↗ if i can find the stop sharing button

1:02:32 ↗ there we go

1:02:34 ↗ it's a drop down

1:02:39 ↗ so questions and comments

1:02:46 ↗ any hands

1:02:50 ↗ but he's pretty versed on park district

1:02:52 ↗ it looks like

1:02:53 ↗ yeah

1:02:54 ↗ i guess my question jeff would be

1:02:57 ↗ uh with the amount of work

1:02:59 ↗ potentially that would be involved in

1:03:00 ↗ putting something like this together

1:03:04 ↗ how much of that would be

1:03:07 ↗ staff

1:03:08 ↗ that would be doing that versus park

1:03:11 ↗ board

1:03:13 ↗ in terms of this sort of exploratory

1:03:15 ↗ work is that what you're asking

1:03:18 ↗ you know you've got exploratory work

1:03:20 ↗ you've got things like governance and a

1:03:22 ↗ lot of those things a lot of those

1:03:24 ↗ things that you mention in terms of

1:03:25 ↗ actually the administration of a park

1:03:28 ↗ district um beyond just actually putting

1:03:31 ↗ it together for the campaign

1:03:34 ↗ looks like there's a fair amount of work

1:03:35 ↗ after one is in place to actually

1:03:38 ↗ administer it

1:03:40 ↗ yeah very much so and so that would be a

1:03:42 ↗ very careful consideration

1:03:44 ↗ is

1:03:45 ↗ um

1:03:47 ↗ as as a park district is being

1:03:51 ↗ sort of thought up and voted and taken

1:03:54 ↗ to the voters

1:03:55 ↗ there would probably be some need for

1:03:59 ↗ some type of administrative support

1:04:01 ↗ again if it's

1:04:03 ↗ depends on what the boundaries are

1:04:05 ↗ if it's boundaries that that parallel a

1:04:07 ↗ city then

1:04:09 ↗ a lot of existing city staff

1:04:11 ↗ can do both of those roles if

1:04:16 ↗ if

1:04:17 ↗ the priorities of a park district i'm

1:04:20 ↗ putting a lot of ifs on this but if the

1:04:22 ↗ priorities of a park district are say

1:04:25 ↗ capital investment

1:04:27 ↗ and and sort of beefing up capital

1:04:28 ↗ investment then obviously we would want

1:04:31 ↗ to look at

1:04:32 ↗ some of those proceeds of a park

1:04:34 ↗ district helping to

1:04:36 ↗ bring necessary project management park

1:04:38 ↗ planning staff administration support on

1:04:42 ↗ that and to deliver those products if

1:04:45 ↗ um

1:04:46 ↗ i mean so really varies on what that

1:04:49 ↗ what the focus and priority of that

1:04:50 ↗ district funding is if it's delivering x

1:04:54 ↗ type of recreation programs differently

1:04:56 ↗ or more of them then

1:04:58 ↗ you know right the the the subsequent

1:05:00 ↗ staffing uh to support the that work

1:05:03 ↗ that the district funding would be

1:05:05 ↗ bringing would be a really important

1:05:07 ↗ consideration

1:05:08 ↗ um

1:05:09 ↗ when sort of scoping and framing up the

1:05:11 ↗ the district

1:05:14 ↗ in terms of the governance and

1:05:15 ↗ administration again that's where

1:05:17 ↗ that boundary decision really comes into

1:05:20 ↗ play if if say it's

1:05:23 ↗ similar to a city boundary then it

1:05:26 ↗ you know we can learn from some of the

1:05:28 ↗ other districts that have done it

1:05:30 ↗ those are actions that are going to the

1:05:31 ↗ same city council

1:05:33 ↗ they're they're functioning both in a

1:05:35 ↗ city council role in terms of

1:05:36 ↗ investments of parks and recreation

1:05:38 ↗ services and then there would be park

1:05:41 ↗ district related items that would be

1:05:42 ↗ going to that same

1:05:44 ↗ uh to that same city council

1:05:47 ↗ so

1:05:50 ↗ if we form a task force within the park

1:05:54 ↗ board to look into this further

1:05:57 ↗ um

1:05:58 ↗ what's your vision of that in terms of

1:06:00 ↗ the expectations and all of that do you

1:06:04 ↗ have any thoughts yet

1:06:06 ↗ so that people can give some

1:06:07 ↗ consideration to it

1:06:09 ↗ yeah no i appreciate that

1:06:11 ↗ not a ton but certainly some i think as

1:06:14 ↗ we had this conversation with the the

1:06:15 ↗ financing task force it really depends

1:06:17 ↗ on what comes out of that recommendation

1:06:19 ↗ but let's say

1:06:20 ↗ that recommendation says hey you know

1:06:22 ↗ what further exploration of a park

1:06:24 ↗ district is a is a priority then

1:06:27 ↗ um yeah i i would

1:06:30 ↗ um

1:06:30 ↗ i would think a broad

1:06:33 ↗ um sort of second task force that

1:06:36 ↗ probably has a good amount of park board

1:06:38 ↗ engagement but also some other community

1:06:40 ↗ members um to to really

1:06:44 ↗ uh pull together a team that would um

1:06:47 ↗ focus pretty much solely on this

1:06:49 ↗ question of of you know answering

1:06:52 ↗ those park board considerations

1:06:55 ↗ um

1:06:56 ↗ doing the exploratory work and coming up

1:06:58 ↗ with a recommendation so

1:07:01 ↗ i think a mix of park board and maybe

1:07:03 ↗ you know other other key community

1:07:05 ↗ members who might be interested to

1:07:08 ↗ probably endeavor on

1:07:10 ↗ um several months if if not a year of of

1:07:13 ↗ of work to do um to do that that would

1:07:16 ↗ probably look very much like um

1:07:18 ↗ historically what the city's done for

1:07:21 ↗ any sort of bond

1:07:22 ↗ um exploratory work bond or levy work

1:07:27 ↗ thanks we'll get into that more as we

1:07:29 ↗ get down to it chris you had something

1:07:35 ↗ yeah they're sorry couldn't get the mute

1:07:37 ↗ button

1:07:38 ↗ uh jeff so you mentioned seattle and

1:07:41 ↗ olympia as examples

1:07:43 ↗ um and and there are others

1:07:45 ↗ like is it mount sai

1:07:47 ↗ and

1:07:49 ↗ uh metro parks tacoma correct

1:07:52 ↗ correct and

1:07:53 ↗ and are some

1:07:55 ↗ let's say more exemplary than others

1:07:57 ↗ in you know providing better models than

1:07:59 ↗ others maybe

1:08:01 ↗ and then the other question is is there

1:08:03 ↗ data

1:08:05 ↗ uh for

1:08:07 ↗ how much funding are they able to

1:08:09 ↗ to

1:08:10 ↗ provide that they wouldn't have been

1:08:11 ↗ able to provide

1:08:13 ↗ uh in in basically a board

1:08:15 ↗ formation

1:08:17 ↗ yeah great question

1:08:18 ↗ so yeah i

1:08:20 ↗ um yes you're right there are other

1:08:22 ↗ models metro parks tacoma is probably

1:08:25 ↗ the longest established park district in

1:08:26 ↗ the state um

1:08:28 ↗ i i worked for them in the 90s so as a

1:08:31 ↗ former employee they were i think

1:08:32 ↗ established in 1907

1:08:35 ↗ um point defiance park ruston way

1:08:38 ↗ they are very much a

1:08:40 ↗ i think what you would think of

1:08:42 ↗ free some of this new legislation very

1:08:44 ↗ much a separate

1:08:46 ↗ agency they have their own

1:08:49 ↗ um elected

1:08:51 ↗ park board

1:08:52 ↗ board of commissioners their own i.t

1:08:54 ↗ department their own i mean so they're

1:08:57 ↗ very much a separate governmental agency

1:09:00 ↗ so i think a very different model than

1:09:04 ↗ a very effective but um

1:09:07 ↗ very

1:09:08 ↗ much a a new governmental agency the

1:09:12 ↗ side view park district um

1:09:15 ↗ was formed really out of uh 2003

1:09:20 ↗ if you remember those of you that might

1:09:21 ↗ be around when king county parks was

1:09:23 ↗ rapidly getting out of the

1:09:26 ↗ local parks ball field and swimming pool

1:09:28 ↗ business

1:09:31 ↗ a number of cities were were gifted

1:09:34 ↗ parks or pools and asked here what are

1:09:36 ↗ you going to do with it the sideview

1:09:38 ↗ district was really formed out of that

1:09:41 ↗ crisis

1:09:42 ↗ and there was a pool the side view pool

1:09:45 ↗ was really under threat of closure and

1:09:47 ↗ so the formation of that district

1:09:50 ↗ really that was its orange origin story

1:09:53 ↗ they now

1:09:55 ↗ provide

1:09:56 ↗ more services but their boundary

1:09:59 ↗ is not congruent to a city

1:10:03 ↗ so

1:10:06 ↗ i wouldn't say it's inefficient i think

1:10:07 ↗ they're very effective at what they do

1:10:10 ↗ but it's a i think a different model and

1:10:12 ↗ was formed

1:10:14 ↗ i want to say during just out of the

1:10:16 ↗ great recession so probably 2010 some of

1:10:18 ↗ this new legislation came about that

1:10:20 ↗ really gave cities

1:10:21 ↗ the ability to consider a park district

1:10:24 ↗ as not

1:10:25 ↗ thinking of it as a whole new government

1:10:27 ↗ entity but a way to

1:10:29 ↗ augment

1:10:31 ↗ investments that cities are making and

1:10:32 ↗ so

1:10:34 ↗ not to say seattle or olympia are any

1:10:36 ↗ better they're just they're probably

1:10:38 ↗ examples that came out of this new

1:10:40 ↗ legislation

1:10:43 ↗ seattle i believe their tax rate is

1:10:46 ↗ about

1:10:47 ↗ 25 cents 28 cents per 1000 um in terms

1:10:51 ↗ of what their park district yield is i

1:10:53 ↗ don't know i'd have to look at an annual

1:10:55 ↗ report to see what that

1:10:57 ↗ augments

1:11:00 ↗ they made it pretty clear in their inner

1:11:01 ↗ local agreement if you take a look at

1:11:03 ↗ that the city of seattle's you know

1:11:06 ↗ support at the time in 2014 of both

1:11:09 ↗ operational and capital investments in

1:11:11 ↗ parks and recreation needed to remain

1:11:13 ↗ as this new funding

1:11:16 ↗ again became that additive

1:11:18 ↗ olympia i believe is right around a

1:11:20 ↗ quarter as well 25 cents per 1000.

1:11:30 ↗ thank you

1:11:31 ↗ you bet

1:11:35 ↗ uh danielle

1:11:38 ↗ sort of as a follow-up to that um i mean

1:11:40 ↗ i think there's also the new pen net um

1:11:43 ↗ park district down in gig harbor

1:11:45 ↗ and which to me is

1:11:48 ↗ you know perhaps uh something else that

1:11:50 ↗ we could look at in exploring this

1:11:52 ↗ because the city of gig harbor like the

1:11:54 ↗ city of issac law is a very small

1:11:57 ↗ geographic area but serves like you know

1:12:01 ↗ much larger there's a much larger

1:12:03 ↗ community

1:12:04 ↗ um in the unincorporated area and so i

1:12:07 ↗ think you know we we're somewhat in

1:12:09 ↗ between

1:12:10 ↗ that model and like city of seattle

1:12:12 ↗ where there's clear overlap and

1:12:13 ↗ boundaries

1:12:16 ↗ you know it's a great point another good

1:12:17 ↗ example

1:12:19 ↗ and i think in that case and we can do

1:12:21 ↗ more research i

1:12:23 ↗ i think the city of git garber is not

1:12:25 ↗ part of the penn met district the penmet

1:12:27 ↗ district is

1:12:29 ↗ sort of

1:12:30 ↗ very incorporated unincorporated pierce

1:12:32 ↗ county area yep

1:12:38 ↗ any other comments or questions on this

1:12:41 ↗ item

1:12:44 ↗ i wanted to bring it tonight because

1:12:47 ↗ we will probably have everything wrapped

1:12:50 ↗ up with the task force likely

1:12:53 ↗ before our next board meeting at the end

1:12:55 ↗ of february

1:12:57 ↗ so

1:12:58 ↗ if you had some additional comments

1:13:00 ↗ this is a good time to make them

1:13:04 ↗ i want to say like i i'm pretty excited

1:13:06 ↗ about this

1:13:07 ↗ you know opportunity to explore this you

1:13:10 ↗ know new funding opportunity um it's

1:13:12 ↗ much more sustainable than what we've

1:13:14 ↗ done in the past um

1:13:16 ↗ and and will give us you know if it if

1:13:19 ↗ it works um it'll give us a predictable

1:13:21 ↗ amount of you know of funds to really

1:13:24 ↗ plan for um so we can do something like

1:13:27 ↗ a a master plan and then know that we

1:13:28 ↗ can actually implement that master plan

1:13:30 ↗ in a few years rather than you know

1:13:32 ↗ doing a great master plan and then

1:13:33 ↗ saying like well we don't actually have

1:13:35 ↗ the money for that so

1:13:36 ↗ um

1:13:38 ↗ you know hopefully we have well i know

1:13:39 ↗ we have a great track record with our

1:13:41 ↗ bonds and how much we've been able to

1:13:43 ↗ leverage with those and

1:13:45 ↗ um you know successfully complete those

1:13:47 ↗ projects so i'm hopeful that we'll have

1:13:50 ↗ um

1:13:51 ↗ if this is the avenue that the city

1:13:52 ↗ wants to do that we'll have good

1:13:54 ↗ support behind that

1:13:58 ↗ yeah and i think it's a good timing too

1:14:00 ↗ because i think that in the past the

1:14:02 ↗ city you know has been served relatively

1:14:05 ↗ well by bonds but the city was also

1:14:08 ↗ much smaller it's grown a lot

1:14:11 ↗ and now the park district concept could

1:14:14 ↗ be

1:14:15 ↗ distributed

1:14:17 ↗ you know or the cost of it distributed

1:14:19 ↗ amongst a much larger

1:14:21 ↗ tax base to some extent because of the

1:14:23 ↗ population growth that's occurred in

1:14:25 ↗ this city over the last 20 years

1:14:28 ↗ so i think and as the expectation of

1:14:31 ↗ continued growth from here on is

1:14:33 ↗ expected to be

1:14:35 ↗ you know i don't know 50 000 people here

1:14:37 ↗ you know within 10 years or whatever

1:14:40 ↗ um you know now's the time to really

1:14:42 ↗ consider doing something more

1:14:43 ↗ sustainable so i i'm really behind this

1:14:46 ↗ as as well

1:14:48 ↗ and the task force frankly uh from other

1:14:51 ↗ people on it seem to be very supportive

1:14:53 ↗ of the idea as well everybody was kind

1:14:56 ↗ of wishing that you know that there was

1:14:58 ↗ these type of funding opportunities

1:15:00 ↗ available for some of the other

1:15:03 ↗ concerns that we're having for

1:15:05 ↗ infrastructure

1:15:07 ↗ so this is a unique opportunity

1:15:09 ↗ available to parks and so i'm really

1:15:12 ↗ excited to see what it looks like

1:15:14 ↗ something more danielle

1:15:16 ↗ yeah just with respect to timing i know

1:15:18 ↗ i've mentioned this in our ad hoc

1:15:21 ↗ group but

1:15:22 ↗ i think that the timing of this is going

1:15:23 ↗ to be really critical to like move

1:15:25 ↗ forward with some urgency because as you

1:15:27 ↗ mentioned earlier

1:15:29 ↗ um you know under our traditional kind

1:15:32 ↗ of the way that we would fund projects

1:15:34 ↗ we would have already

1:15:35 ↗ had a park bond like in place or like

1:15:38 ↗ coming up so

1:15:40 ↗ um because we did one i think in like

1:15:43 ↗ 2006 i think something like that and

1:15:46 ↗ you know we're like we would be due

1:15:48 ↗ due for another one so

1:15:50 ↗ i think there will be some urgency to

1:15:52 ↗ sort of figure this out and then

1:15:54 ↗ hopefully you know move forward

1:15:55 ↗ expeditiously

1:15:59 ↗ agree my hope

1:16:02 ↗ yeah there's lots of uh lots of moving

1:16:04 ↗ parts and lots of

1:16:06 ↗ people pushing in different directions

1:16:08 ↗ so it's a matter of compromise

1:16:11 ↗ and

1:16:12 ↗ diplomacy to try and

1:16:14 ↗ get the timing in place

1:16:16 ↗ but i mean it's going to take you know a

1:16:18 ↗ year or two to probably put all this

1:16:20 ↗ together to some extent before it could

1:16:22 ↗ go into a ballot measure anyway so i

1:16:24 ↗ mean ideally the sooner we get started

1:16:26 ↗ with that the better

1:16:28 ↗ so that maybe in a couple years we could

1:16:31 ↗ actually potentially see some funding

1:16:36 ↗ any other comments

1:16:39 ↗ questions

1:16:41 ↗ good thanks we'll conclude that part

1:16:45 ↗ next item on the agenda is the newport

1:16:48 ↗ way

1:16:50 ↗ infrastructure development

1:16:54 ↗ and letter that was proposed by john

1:16:57 ↗ from the engineering department

1:16:59 ↗ uh we've looked at this letter before

1:17:02 ↗ but he has actually updated that letter

1:17:05 ↗ which is

1:17:06 ↗ now

1:17:07 ↗ what you have attached to your packet

1:17:09 ↗ this evening i assume everybody has had

1:17:11 ↗ an opportunity to review it

1:17:14 ↗ uh it i have reviewed it it's pretty

1:17:16 ↗ much in line with the combined um

1:17:20 ↗ meeting that we had with the

1:17:21 ↗ transportation advisory board

1:17:24 ↗ um i've had some further discussion with

1:17:27 ↗ the transportation advisory board

1:17:29 ↗ chair

1:17:31 ↗ she and i did not feel a need to have

1:17:33 ↗ any additional meetings about this

1:17:38 ↗ we have sections towards the end of that

1:17:40 ↗ letter to add a few additional comments

1:17:43 ↗ that aren't maybe already incorporated

1:17:45 ↗ within the letter

1:17:47 ↗ i drafted up something pretty simple

1:17:51 ↗ to

1:17:52 ↗ put there for now and just wanted to

1:17:56 ↗ get everybody's opinion um if there's

1:17:58 ↗ any additional comments you would like

1:18:01 ↗ to have included in that

1:18:04 ↗ now's the time to make mention of that

1:18:06 ↗ and i can include that before i send it

1:18:09 ↗ off to

1:18:10 ↗ the engineering

1:18:13 ↗ department

1:18:14 ↗ um

1:18:15 ↗ so that being said

1:18:17 ↗ danielle

1:18:19 ↗ um

1:18:20 ↗ i guess i don't have any issue with the

1:18:22 ↗ actual letter i just feel that um

1:18:27 ↗ because there wasn't

1:18:29 ↗ that this is like sometimes you have a

1:18:31 ↗ case where

1:18:32 ↗ you know people have different opinions

1:18:34 ↗ about something

1:18:36 ↗ um because what you're really trying to

1:18:38 ↗ do is

1:18:39 ↗ is

1:18:40 ↗ you know at the end of the day not

1:18:41 ↗ everyone's going to be happy so you you

1:18:43 ↗ kind of like are giving up on things but

1:18:45 ↗ i feel like

1:18:46 ↗ this was a discussion where people had

1:18:48 ↗ pretty consistent like our group and the

1:18:50 ↗ transportation group like had pretty

1:18:52 ↗ consistent like goals

1:18:55 ↗ and

1:18:56 ↗ objectives

1:18:57 ↗ um with respect to safety and

1:19:00 ↗ and whatnot but

1:19:03 ↗ the fact that we weren't really able to

1:19:05 ↗ come to consensus as to the right

1:19:08 ↗ like as to one plan

1:19:10 ↗ sort of means to me

1:19:12 ↗ that

1:19:13 ↗ um

1:19:14 ↗ that there's not you know like

1:19:16 ↗ a lot of satisfaction about what the

1:19:18 ↗ options were

1:19:19 ↗ so that we were wanting something

1:19:21 ↗ different right and then people kind of

1:19:23 ↗ came you know compromised because there

1:19:25 ↗ wasn't like the

1:19:26 ↗ option that we really wanted so i don't

1:19:28 ↗ really know what to do with that but i

1:19:30 ↗ just wanted to throw that out there

1:19:32 ↗ um

1:19:33 ↗ i feel like there are

1:19:35 ↗ you know different approaches that other

1:19:38 ↗ cities are doing

1:19:39 ↗ um with respect to bike lanes and moving

1:19:43 ↗ moving bikes with traffic

1:19:45 ↗ um

1:19:46 ↗ you know that weren't presented to us as

1:19:47 ↗ an option and i understand there are

1:19:49 ↗ some reasons why but

1:19:51 ↗ to me i i would have

1:19:53 ↗ i would have liked to see us you know go

1:19:56 ↗ back out and

1:19:57 ↗ think about it some more

1:20:01 ↗ well and i agree i think to some extent

1:20:05 ↗ you know the

1:20:07 ↗ safety issue really hinged a lot around

1:20:10 ↗ uh separation of pedestrians and bikes i

1:20:13 ↗ mean we have that same problem with

1:20:15 ↗ trails

1:20:16 ↗ you know and um

1:20:18 ↗ i remember we had a fair amount of

1:20:19 ↗ discussion about what we were going to

1:20:21 ↗ do at park point frankly when we

1:20:24 ↗ developed the trail system up there

1:20:26 ↗ about how to make that safer and that

1:20:28 ↗ seems to have

1:20:30 ↗ been functioning over the years um

1:20:32 ↗ i think space is a bit of an issue

1:20:36 ↗ that

1:20:37 ↗ that they may have some limitations to

1:20:39 ↗ be able to create a fully separate

1:20:42 ↗ um

1:20:43 ↗ you know kind of bike lane um

1:20:45 ↗ i don't know i think we have voiced our

1:20:47 ↗ concerns

1:20:48 ↗ enough to them to say hey you know that

1:20:52 ↗ that's an issue you know

1:20:54 ↗ not only safety with traffic but safety

1:20:57 ↗ between bikes and pedestrians and

1:21:00 ↗ it's really kind of out of our hands in

1:21:03 ↗ terms of if they can come up with

1:21:05 ↗ something additional beyond what they've

1:21:07 ↗ already presented i you know i i agree

1:21:11 ↗ it'd be nice to have had consensus but

1:21:14 ↗ um

1:21:16 ↗ you know we were close i mean we i think

1:21:18 ↗ we were 57 or something the park board

1:21:21 ↗ you know put on that

1:21:23 ↗ plan b which was to kind of have a

1:21:25 ↗ separate path versus

1:21:27 ↗ kind of a combined path sidewalk thing

1:21:30 ↗ and um

1:21:32 ↗ so i don't know i i think that i think

1:21:34 ↗ that you know john's gonna have some

1:21:36 ↗ rehashing to think about this you know

1:21:39 ↗ in terms of whether or not we see any

1:21:42 ↗ anything else as a potential option i'd

1:21:45 ↗ kind of doubt that will happen

1:21:48 ↗ we'll see i mean and i could

1:21:51 ↗ and maybe that's something to add to our

1:21:54 ↗ part of it is that because that being a

1:21:56 ↗ you know a focus is is there

1:21:58 ↗ is there further consideration that the

1:22:00 ↗ engineering department can come up with

1:22:02 ↗ as additional options

1:22:04 ↗ to provide that kind of separation

1:22:07 ↗ because i i

1:22:08 ↗ i don't know i i think

1:22:10 ↗ you know

1:22:11 ↗ electric bikes and electric

1:22:14 ↗ off-road vehicles to you know is is a

1:22:17 ↗ danger zone you know to be putting those

1:22:20 ↗ in the same proximity as pedestrians and

1:22:24 ↗ it certainly would be nice to find a way

1:22:26 ↗ to have those separated

1:22:29 ↗ yeah i don't know if anybody else um has

1:22:32 ↗ been to like

1:22:34 ↗ the streets

1:22:35 ↗ next to climate pledge arena

1:22:39 ↗ but there are you know they're basically

1:22:41 ↗ retrofitting some of the streets in the

1:22:43 ↗ queen anne area um to to have bike lanes

1:22:47 ↗ and so

1:22:48 ↗ they've taken away like the parking

1:22:50 ↗ strip and

1:22:51 ↗ and that is a two-way um bike lane with

1:22:56 ↗ a you know a separation from the street

1:22:58 ↗ but not like a big huge planting area

1:23:00 ↗ right but it there is a so it's very

1:23:02 ↗ clear that the bikes are supposed to be

1:23:04 ↗ on the street but they're not they are

1:23:07 ↗ separated from the cars and so it just

1:23:09 ↗ seems like you know now that i'm like

1:23:11 ↗ thinking about this and looking at it

1:23:12 ↗ you know you come across some different

1:23:14 ↗ ideas

1:23:15 ↗ um that seem like they could work you

1:23:17 ↗ know so

1:23:20 ↗ on that example they're not mixing that

1:23:23 ↗ with pedestrians right they're mixing

1:23:25 ↗ that with traffic

1:23:27 ↗ right

1:23:28 ↗ yeah

1:23:32 ↗ they're they just took a

1:23:35 ↗ a parking lane um so it's like a you

1:23:37 ↗ know it's on the street underneath the

1:23:39 ↗ curb so there's a sidewalk the parking

1:23:41 ↗ lane has been converted to a two lane

1:23:43 ↗ it's painted green

1:23:44 ↗ two-way bike lane um

1:23:47 ↗ and then there's a

1:23:48 ↗ herb type you know there's a a barrier

1:23:51 ↗ right along the street

1:23:53 ↗ um to keep the bike separate separate

1:23:55 ↗ from the cars

1:23:57 ↗ so i know one of the constraints on in

1:24:00 ↗ our area was you know like if they were

1:24:02 ↗ gonna have a separation they wanted to

1:24:03 ↗ have kind of a big separation and that

1:24:05 ↗ was gonna like stretch the road too wide

1:24:08 ↗ and you know be

1:24:09 ↗ you know cost prohibitive but

1:24:13 ↗ anyway i've taken up too much time on

1:24:15 ↗ this but

1:24:17 ↗ any other comments about

1:24:19 ↗ the letter or anything additional that

1:24:22 ↗ you'd like to have added

1:24:31 ↗ if not

1:24:32 ↗ um could i have a

1:24:36 ↗ a motion to um for the park board to

1:24:39 ↗ approve this letter so i can get this

1:24:41 ↗ back to engineering

1:24:51 ↗ someone

1:24:54 ↗ chris

1:24:55 ↗ i move that we approve the letter

1:24:57 ↗ regarding the uh biplane and pedestrian

1:25:00 ↗ lane configuration

1:25:06 ↗ anybody like to second that

1:25:11 ↗ thank you reuben

1:25:12 ↗ any further discussion about this before

1:25:15 ↗ we

1:25:18 ↗ say yay or nay

1:25:22 ↗ if not um

1:25:25 ↗ everybody that's uh in approval of the

1:25:29 ↗ motion

1:25:30 ↗ please uh give me a thumbs up

1:25:37 ↗ i see that's uh from everybody okay

1:25:41 ↗ thank you that's approved

1:25:43 ↗ i'll um i'll add a little little extra

1:25:46 ↗ sentence on what i've already done to

1:25:48 ↗ kind of discuss what you just mentioned

1:25:51 ↗ danielle to see if there is something

1:25:53 ↗ more that they can do

1:25:56 ↗ okay good thanks i appreciate that i'll

1:25:59 ↗ get it sent off here this week

1:26:03 ↗ i'm sure we'll be hearing more about

1:26:05 ↗ that

1:26:08 ↗ so

1:26:11 ↗ that leaves us uh good we're a little

1:26:13 ↗ bit ahead of time

1:26:15 ↗ and uh

1:26:16 ↗ looks like we're now back to jeff

1:26:19 ↗ for his director's report

1:26:24 ↗ all right thanks brad and thank you

1:26:25 ↗ everybody i i really do appreciate the

1:26:28 ↗ work you did and and

1:26:30 ↗ really the opportunity you had as a park

1:26:32 ↗ board to uh lend at least voice to

1:26:36 ↗ those right-of-way considerations um and

1:26:38 ↗ looking at

1:26:40 ↗ trail connectivity and

1:26:43 ↗ yeah just

1:26:45 ↗ appreciate your work on that i know

1:26:47 ↗ jennifer

1:26:49 ↗ we'll continue to be working with uh

1:26:51 ↗ john closely on that

1:26:54 ↗ on that project and what design looks

1:26:56 ↗ like ultimately and and

1:26:58 ↗ certainly your

1:26:59 ↗ your voice has been uh very important in

1:27:02 ↗ that and um

1:27:04 ↗ i think we'll continue to be as that

1:27:06 ↗ moves forward

1:27:07 ↗ i've just got a couple of items really

1:27:09 ↗ really fast and i want to certainly make

1:27:11 ↗ sure there's ample time to hear from

1:27:13 ↗ ryan and sean um

1:27:15 ↗ and certainly brad as well but uh ryan

1:27:17 ↗ and sean for for certain um i mentioned

1:27:20 ↗ to brenda before we came on

1:27:22 ↗ boy we turned the calendar to 2022 and

1:27:24 ↗ it kind of feels like it's been of a bit

1:27:26 ↗ of a blur for our department between

1:27:29 ↗ snow and ice right after the holidays

1:27:31 ↗ and responding to that to

1:27:34 ↗ immediately all that snow and ice ice

1:27:36 ↗ thaws and um

1:27:38 ↗ flood threats and and some of our

1:27:40 ↗ impacts to our open space system and

1:27:43 ↗ and services in that regard attack on

1:27:46 ↗ omicron

1:27:48 ↗ impacts and um

1:27:50 ↗ i would just say

1:27:52 ↗ not to sound all eeyore but uh we're a

1:27:55 ↗ really really tired department and and

1:27:58 ↗ something we're paying very very close

1:28:00 ↗ attention to

1:28:02 ↗ um we've had a a staff and a team

1:28:05 ↗ be it park maintenance be it our

1:28:07 ↗ recreation staff be it really any any of

1:28:10 ↗ our groups uh within this outward facing

1:28:12 ↗ department that have been

1:28:14 ↗ going hard for two years and

1:28:18 ↗ we're tired

1:28:19 ↗ the group continues to do an amazing job

1:28:22 ↗ as as omicron has impacts

1:28:26 ↗ to our service delivery as well as our

1:28:28 ↗ staffing we've

1:28:29 ↗ continued to be able to operate

1:28:33 ↗ with some modifications

1:28:35 ↗ we remain hopeful

1:28:38 ↗ that as the community remains smart and

1:28:40 ↗ safe we start to see those omicron

1:28:42 ↗ numbers go down in the coming weeks

1:28:45 ↗ that will

1:28:47 ↗ be

1:28:49 ↗ a real

1:28:50 ↗ positive not only

1:28:52 ↗ for for various public health reasons

1:28:54 ↗ but i think for our team as well and and

1:28:56 ↗ so i i say this not to say woe is us but

1:28:59 ↗ really to give context and give kudos to

1:29:03 ↗ uh the staff in this department who uh

1:29:05 ↗ who continue have continued to keep

1:29:07 ↗ their eye on the ball and that's serving

1:29:09 ↗ the public making sure there's access to

1:29:11 ↗ parks and recreation facilities

1:29:13 ↗ throughout a global pandemic

1:29:16 ↗ and and at the same time keeping

1:29:19 ↗ ourselves and keeping the community safe

1:29:21 ↗ and so

1:29:22 ↗ just a great work by a

1:29:25 ↗ um a tired team

1:29:28 ↗ uh the last item i have yeah thank you

1:29:30 ↗ chris again just kudos to the to the

1:29:33 ↗ team um just a reminder as we're heading

1:29:36 ↗ into january here comes february before

1:29:38 ↗ we know it will be another round of

1:29:40 ↗ board commission

1:29:42 ↗ um applications uh that that open

1:29:44 ↗ process starts in february

1:29:47 ↗ um given a number of terms that are up

1:29:49 ↗ with the park board um i did right it's

1:29:51 ↗ something brad and i have certainly been

1:29:53 ↗ discussing i had a chance to reach out

1:29:56 ↗ uh to the mayor a couple weeks ago and

1:29:58 ↗ just

1:29:59 ↗ get her sense um as we head into 2022

1:30:02 ↗ with with those number of positions

1:30:06 ↗ just to i guess communicate her

1:30:08 ↗ priorities

1:30:10 ↗ she is certainly and i think this is

1:30:13 ↗ something that came up last year

1:30:15 ↗ is looking for ways through all boards

1:30:17 ↗ and commissions to encourage

1:30:19 ↗ some degree of transition and some

1:30:21 ↗ degree of term turnover

1:30:23 ↗ she is not does not have hard and fast

1:30:26 ↗ term limits

1:30:28 ↗ her interest in transition and turnover

1:30:31 ↗ she wants to make sure that doesn't get

1:30:32 ↗ in the way of

1:30:35 ↗ the sort of at the expense of an

1:30:38 ↗ important board function

1:30:41 ↗ so

1:30:42 ↗ all of those are really really important

1:30:44 ↗ considerations as you know the

1:30:46 ↗ application process

1:30:48 ↗ as staff and

1:30:51 ↗ ongoing park board members

1:30:53 ↗ do the interview process those

1:30:55 ↗ recommendations are then provided to the

1:30:57 ↗ mayor's office

1:30:58 ↗ who then makes recommendations that go

1:31:01 ↗ to city council

1:31:03 ↗ those of you that have a term up um

1:31:06 ↗ this year i i understand you may have

1:31:08 ↗ questions the mayor was

1:31:12 ↗ is very open and and wanted to make sure

1:31:15 ↗ that i shared with all of you that

1:31:17 ↗ should you have questions or want to

1:31:19 ↗ sort of talk with her um directly as you

1:31:22 ↗ might be considering reapplying to

1:31:24 ↗ please reach out to her she would she

1:31:26 ↗ would love and and very much invite

1:31:28 ↗ those

1:31:29 ↗ those conversations that you might have

1:31:31 ↗ so

1:31:33 ↗ just wanted to share that all with you

1:31:35 ↗ that's all i have brad thanks

1:31:39 ↗ thank you jeff

1:31:44 ↗ uh i have just a couple things for chair

1:31:45 ↗ report um

1:31:49 ↗ a couple encouraging things so it's

1:31:51 ↗ always good to have that to end our

1:31:53 ↗ meeting

1:31:54 ↗ uh one thing i assume everybody's real

1:31:56 ↗ familiar with the sequoia alps trails

1:31:58 ↗ club but i just learned here just a few

1:32:00 ↗ days ago that we have a new

1:32:03 ↗ uh executive director that's now going

1:32:05 ↗ to be coming on board paul winterstein

1:32:08 ↗ for all of you that might know paul

1:32:11 ↗ is a very

1:32:13 ↗ active leader in the community was on

1:32:15 ↗ the city council for a number of years

1:32:19 ↗ was the council president chair for a

1:32:22 ↗ number of years

1:32:23 ↗ so it's going to be a great addition to

1:32:26 ↗ the issaquah helps trails club to

1:32:27 ↗ actually have his leadership

1:32:30 ↗ skills

1:32:31 ↗ and passion for the community and our

1:32:33 ↗ trail system

1:32:34 ↗ to be leading the show on that so

1:32:37 ↗ welcome paul whenever you get a chance

1:32:39 ↗ to do that and i'm sure you appreciate

1:32:42 ↗ it

1:32:43 ↗ a little update from the company work

1:32:45 ↗ group um

1:32:47 ↗ i'll know more

1:32:48 ↗ in a couple days because we have another

1:32:50 ↗ meeting coming up this week

1:32:52 ↗ but

1:32:53 ↗ the only thing i kind of want to share

1:32:54 ↗ with you is a little good news about

1:32:56 ↗ some recovery of kokanee uh as you know

1:32:59 ↗ i've been

1:33:00 ↗ voicing for

1:33:02 ↗ years now you know the problems that

1:33:04 ↗ we've had with kokanee and the potential

1:33:06 ↗ extinction in the lakes and mamash

1:33:09 ↗ watershed

1:33:10 ↗ we've had the last few years

1:33:13 ↗ been numbers have been very low like 20

1:33:17 ↗ 18.

1:33:19 ↗ you know that type of thing this year

1:33:21 ↗ the counts uh are at 2 000 so far

1:33:24 ↗ so that's a very encouraging news to

1:33:27 ↗ actually see

1:33:28 ↗ that

1:33:30 ↗ that there's

1:33:31 ↗ some improvement in terms of kokanee cop

1:33:34 ↗ population and there'll be more counts

1:33:36 ↗ to come we don't have a final count for

1:33:38 ↗ the year yet

1:33:40 ↗ um

1:33:42 ↗ but any event and it's not certain as to

1:33:44 ↗ what we'll never probably really know

1:33:48 ↗ specifically it's really a combination

1:33:50 ↗ of things um you know that it probably

1:33:52 ↗ led to that but it's just certainly good

1:33:54 ↗ news

1:33:56 ↗ one of the encouraging pieces is i don't

1:33:58 ↗ know how many of you are familiar with

1:33:59 ↗ zach hughes creek it's actually

1:34:01 ↗ up towards the redmond area on the east

1:34:04 ↗ side of the lake

1:34:06 ↗ jack use creek has a pretty substantial

1:34:09 ↗ historical element to it with the

1:34:11 ↗ snoqualmie tribe

1:34:13 ↗ zac use creek actually

1:34:16 ↗ some substantial work occurred on it um

1:34:19 ↗ over the last several years lakes uh the

1:34:22 ↗ city of sammamish uh invested in quite a

1:34:24 ↗ bit of infrastructure money into

1:34:27 ↗ uh culverts and that type of thing

1:34:30 ↗ snoqualmie tribe and a group of people

1:34:32 ↗ who have actually come in and done a

1:34:34 ↗ number of restoration

1:34:35 ↗ uh and happy to report that uh there's

1:34:38 ↗ actually kokanee actually in zacchaeus

1:34:40 ↗ creek this year

1:34:42 ↗ uh which is the first time in 40 years

1:34:45 ↗ actually that that's occurred so that's

1:34:47 ↗ really a good example as to

1:34:50 ↗ what can happen with organizations and

1:34:53 ↗ community members

1:34:54 ↗ coming together to actually do

1:34:56 ↗ restoration projects to

1:34:59 ↗ improve the environment and so i just

1:35:01 ↗ kind of want to throw that out there as

1:35:02 ↗ a real

1:35:04 ↗ encouragement for our coconut

1:35:07 ↗ um

1:35:09 ↗ jeff already mentioned board

1:35:10 ↗ applications coming in february so be on

1:35:12 ↗ the lookout for that i think that the

1:35:14 ↗ applications haven't been posted yet but

1:35:16 ↗ they normally are due by about the 25th

1:35:19 ↗ of february

1:35:20 ↗ so i encourage everybody that's coming

1:35:22 ↗ up at the end of their term to

1:35:25 ↗ to apply if you would like to continue

1:35:27 ↗ on

1:35:29 ↗ and the last thing is just a reminder if

1:35:31 ↗ you're ever going to be absent for a

1:35:33 ↗ board meeting to please let melissa and

1:35:36 ↗ i know beforehand

1:35:37 ↗ by email

1:35:39 ↗ so that we can have a good understanding

1:35:41 ↗ as to how many people might not be

1:35:43 ↗ present the main really the main reason

1:35:46 ↗ for that is we need to make sure that we

1:35:47 ↗ always have a quorum

1:35:49 ↗ uh and so if we have a bunch of people

1:35:51 ↗ that are kind of no shows we'd have to

1:35:54 ↗ probably maybe

1:35:55 ↗ reset a meeting or something that really

1:35:57 ↗ hasn't happened to us but i just want a

1:35:59 ↗ little friendly reminder to

1:36:02 ↗ let melissa and i know if you're not

1:36:04 ↗ going to be able to attend

1:36:06 ↗ so that's it for my chair report and we

1:36:09 ↗ have

1:36:10 ↗ lots of time remaining so that ryan and

1:36:14 ↗ sean are not feeling like they're left

1:36:16 ↗ out and only have a minute to tell us

1:36:18 ↗ anything so

1:36:19 ↗ thank you ryan and sean for uh for

1:36:22 ↗ joining us again this evening and

1:36:25 ↗ it's it's your show now what would you

1:36:26 ↗ like to tell us

1:36:28 ↗ thank you for having us brad we always

1:36:30 ↗ love sharing what yap is up to

1:36:33 ↗ sean do you want to start and i can

1:36:34 ↗ follow up

1:36:36 ↗ yeah sure um

1:36:39 ↗ so

1:36:40 ↗ we still have six project groups i

1:36:42 ↗ believe that are still going on um and

1:36:45 ↗ we're having a meeting tomorrow meet um

1:36:48 ↗ unfortunately i think

1:36:50 ↗ we've all transitioned to virtual for

1:36:52 ↗ the month of january and february that

1:36:54 ↗ is our guidance because of new coven um

1:36:57 ↗ sort of related

1:36:59 ↗ issues and plus we have like younger

1:37:01 ↗ kids i not be fully vaccinated

1:37:04 ↗ um but what i can say is that

1:37:06 ↗ the project team that i'm um a part of

1:37:10 ↗ which is harry potter night a community

1:37:11 ↗ event

1:37:12 ↗ um

1:37:13 ↗ is being planned and ready to go um we

1:37:17 ↗ have scheduled it for february 11th so

1:37:19 ↗ if there are any kids from um

1:37:22 ↗ uh i believe

1:37:24 ↗ elementary school um like third to fifth

1:37:27 ↗ grade that you can advertise to that is

1:37:29 ↗ a great demographic we're look always

1:37:31 ↗ looking for more people to join us um

1:37:33 ↗ and it's just gonna be community

1:37:35 ↗ building

1:37:36 ↗ but yeah that's the one success story i

1:37:37 ↗ have i'm not sure what ryan has to say

1:37:40 ↗ but i'll hand it off to him

1:37:41 ↗ thank you sean yeah so i guess i'll just

1:37:43 ↗ provide some updates on sort of the

1:37:45 ↗ other major projects that are in the

1:37:46 ↗ works right now um another event that's

1:37:50 ↗ um being planned is a movie night and so

1:37:53 ↗ that group i know is currently working

1:37:54 ↗ on finding out a space that they can use

1:37:57 ↗ um to host some sort of movie night for

1:37:59 ↗ high schoolers um we consider doing it

1:38:01 ↗ at the pool or the community center

1:38:03 ↗ um and then really the other major thing

1:38:05 ↗ that is being worked on is state of mind

1:38:08 ↗ which is our

1:38:10 ↗ annual mental health conference

1:38:12 ↗ i don't know the date for that off the

1:38:14 ↗ top of my head it's probably in the next

1:38:16 ↗ couple of months but um

1:38:18 ↗ i know they're working on getting

1:38:20 ↗ speakers for various topics and that's

1:38:22 ↗ always a really great event it's really

1:38:24 ↗ informational really informative uh

1:38:26 ↗ definitely some inspiring stories that

1:38:28 ↗ come out of it as well um something else

1:38:31 ↗ that we're working on as sort of the

1:38:33 ↗ community service part of things is uh

1:38:35 ↗ collaborating with the senior center to

1:38:37 ↗ make some cards for their patrons uh

1:38:39 ↗ that's just a really exciting way that

1:38:41 ↗ we're really hoping to get back into

1:38:43 ↗ doing our community service work since

1:38:45 ↗ uh we put that a bit on hold over the

1:38:47 ↗ last couple of years because of covid so

1:38:49 ↗ we're looking forward to

1:38:50 ↗ coming together to work on that project

1:38:54 ↗ and on a personal note i'm really

1:38:55 ↗ excited to see that recreation

1:38:56 ↗ basketball is up and running i have been

1:38:58 ↗ working as a vaccination card checker

1:39:00 ↗ the last couple of weeks and it's been

1:39:02 ↗ great to just see how many people are

1:39:04 ↗ participating the magnitude of people

1:39:05 ↗ that come through those doors it's

1:39:07 ↗ really exciting and it's been great to

1:39:08 ↗ see all the kids you know be really

1:39:10 ↗ happy about getting together in their

1:39:12 ↗ teams and playing some basketball out

1:39:14 ↗ there so i think that's all we've got

1:39:18 ↗ well thank you for that ryan

1:39:21 ↗ sean appreciate it

1:39:22 ↗ uh go ahead reuben you got something

1:39:24 ↗ yeah i just wanted um if you guys ever

1:39:26 ↗ do any coordination with the other clubs

1:39:28 ↗ i was thinking some of the things you're

1:39:30 ↗ doing might overlap quite well with the

1:39:32 ↗ key club

1:39:34 ↗ so just just a thought

1:39:37 ↗ we've definitely i know in the past that

1:39:39 ↗ there we've definitely like used key

1:39:40 ↗ clubs as a way to promote events so yeah

1:39:42 ↗ i think sean i can definitely bring that

1:39:43 ↗ back in terms of uh continuing to

1:39:45 ↗ collaborate with key clubs

1:39:47 ↗ thank you so much

1:39:48 ↗ club has a pretty good membership this

1:39:50 ↗ year

1:39:50 ↗ i counted 75 people at the first meeting

1:39:54 ↗ so it's a pretty good number yeah

1:39:58 ↗ and just as a reminder ryan you're gonna

1:40:01 ↗ are you graduating this year

1:40:03 ↗ john and i are both graduating this year

1:40:06 ↗ i will stick around as long as i can

1:40:08 ↗ before i move out

1:40:11 ↗ so uh that means you're done by what may

1:40:14 ↗ or june then

1:40:16 ↗ yeah probably

1:40:18 ↗ so do you have anybody within the youth

1:40:20 ↗ board that can join us uh after you two

1:40:24 ↗ leave us

1:40:26 ↗ i'm sure we can find someone we will

1:40:27 ↗ definitely work on promoting and finding

1:40:30 ↗ someone to fill in i know that

1:40:34 ↗ you know i know that you all value

1:40:35 ↗ hearing from us and so i definitely want

1:40:36 ↗ to make sure that there is still someone

1:40:37 ↗ here in the future so sean and i will

1:40:39 ↗ definitely work on promoting that as an

1:40:41 ↗ opportunity

1:40:42 ↗ um we know there's a lot of students who

1:40:44 ↗ really enjoy serving on the boards and

1:40:46 ↗ commissions and it's a really unique

1:40:47 ↗ opportunity that youth advisory board

1:40:48 ↗ has so we will definitely work on

1:40:51 ↗ figuring that out by the end of the year

1:40:53 ↗ good thanks just wanted to throw that

1:40:55 ↗ out there to give you plenty of time to

1:40:56 ↗ get working on that

1:41:00 ↗ okay uh

1:41:01 ↗ other business announcements anybody

1:41:03 ↗ have anything

1:41:06 ↗ uh jeff you got something

1:41:09 ↗ just a quick one brad i think in the

1:41:11 ↗ midst of of

1:41:13 ↗ omicron and the uncertainties uh though

1:41:15 ↗ i haven't gotten a definitive date

1:41:18 ↗ i like to be optimistic and i'm hoping

1:41:20 ↗ by sometime this spring we will be back

1:41:22 ↗ to

1:41:23 ↗ um in person it would be

1:41:25 ↗ great to see all of you again um i know

1:41:30 ↗ i think our one in person um meeting we

1:41:32 ↗ had at hillside park was uh both

1:41:34 ↗ energetic great engagement with the

1:41:36 ↗ neighborhood but it was also great to

1:41:37 ↗ see all of you so

1:41:39 ↗ um

1:41:40 ↗ just i i guess i wanted to share that

1:41:42 ↗ optimistic hope and um

1:41:44 ↗ again along the lines of what i was

1:41:46 ↗ saying about the team

1:41:48 ↗ um you know it's been two years of a

1:41:50 ↗ pandemic and and something we've shared

1:41:53 ↗ and i think are trying to support each

1:41:55 ↗ other as a team i just want to pass it

1:41:57 ↗ on to all of you

1:41:58 ↗ um and not to try and sound too preachy

1:42:02 ↗ but sometimes it it feels darkest just

1:42:04 ↗ before the dawn and i'm hoping we're on

1:42:06 ↗ the tail end of this i think we all are

1:42:09 ↗ um if you're like us you're probably

1:42:11 ↗ super tired and so just find ways to

1:42:14 ↗ connect

1:42:15 ↗ uh to your family to your loved ones get

1:42:18 ↗ out and recreate

1:42:19 ↗ um we're gonna we're gonna get through

1:42:21 ↗ this we are gonna get through this so

1:42:24 ↗ and i just appreciate all of your

1:42:25 ↗ interest and involvement and support of

1:42:28 ↗ of the city and being on the park board

1:42:30 ↗ so thanks a ton

1:42:33 ↗ i'll second that

1:42:34 ↗ and um

1:42:36 ↗ you know if nothing else one of the

1:42:37 ↗ things it came from last year i think

1:42:39 ↗ it's a good idea for us to have maybe

1:42:42 ↗ some meetings in parks

1:42:45 ↗ you know and if we have limitations

1:42:47 ↗ maybe that's one of our way of dealing

1:42:49 ↗ around that to some extent

1:42:53 ↗ at least when the weather gets better

1:42:55 ↗ 35 degrees in the fog isn't exactly what

1:42:57 ↗ i'm thinking but

1:42:59 ↗ danielle you have something

1:43:01 ↗ i just have a question for you um

1:43:04 ↗ for i guess jeff um with all the the

1:43:07 ↗ rain and flooding that we had i saw some

1:43:11 ↗ pretty crazy pictures of the creek and

1:43:13 ↗ confluence park and i'm just wondering

1:43:16 ↗ i know that park is intended to flood

1:43:19 ↗ and i'm just wondering if that if it did

1:43:22 ↗ as it was expected or if there was

1:43:24 ↗ damage and also i'm curious if there was

1:43:27 ↗ any flooding at tibbetts

1:43:31 ↗ thanks danielle no no flooding at

1:43:33 ↗ tibbetts as we monitored that through

1:43:34 ↗ monitored that throughout tibbetts creek

1:43:38 ↗ did well with the capacity uh you're

1:43:40 ↗ right confluence with the east fork and

1:43:43 ↗ the main stem

1:43:44 ↗ we saw a little bit

1:43:46 ↗ it performed as expected in that the

1:43:49 ↗ sort of the northern part of the park

1:43:51 ↗ and that what's called the oxbow sort of

1:43:53 ↗ the first point of of floodplain relief

1:43:56 ↗ that's where we saw a little bit

1:43:58 ↗ of flooding wasn't anything near that if

1:44:01 ↗ you remember the 2020 event just before

1:44:03 ↗ the the pandemic we actually saw a

1:44:04 ↗ little bit more but in both cases it

1:44:07 ↗ functioned as expected uh the park ops

1:44:10 ↗ crew has already

1:44:12 ↗ sort of made a note there's a little bit

1:44:13 ↗ of gravel trail repair work on that that

1:44:16 ↗ north side of the park but it it

1:44:17 ↗ actually uh performed quite well

1:44:21 ↗ great thank you so much and that's great

1:44:23 ↗ news about tidbits

1:44:28 ↗ anything else anyone

1:44:32 ↗ if not thank you all for joining us this

1:44:34 ↗ evening and we'll see you again uh next

1:44:36 ↗ month so uh have a good evening

1:44:39 ↗ good night

1:44:40 ↗ have a good evening

1:44:42 ↗ meetings with you bye thank you

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