Park Board · Monday, March 24, 2025 · City Council Digest

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of January 27, 2025

packet pp.3–4

Open packet at p.3 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 01-27-25 Park Board Minutes Page [0000] CITY OF ISSAQUAH Park Board 7:00 PM Tibbetts Manor, 750 17th Ave January 27, 2025 MINUTES NW, Issaquah

4. REGULAR BUSINESS

Park Operations Division and Storm Recovery Update, (I,D)

30 min · Rick Still, Assistant Director, Parks and Community Services · packet pp.5–16

Topics: Parks

Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

Parks Operations Division and Storm Recovery Update Parks & Community Services

5. REPORTS

Director's Report

packet pp.17–26

Open packet at p.17 ↗

Staff report:

Page 17 of 26 REPORTS a) Hillside Park Update- Soft Opening

Youth Representative's Report

Chairperson's Report

1503 segments .txt ↗

0:04 ↗ okay recording has started okay

0:06 ↗ recording has started uh start call the

0:09 ↗ meeting to

0:10 ↗ order uh Andrew Elin Chris kovak David

0:14 ↗ Lou PA Mor against Mary Stevens all

0:19 ↗ present um approval minutes as everyone

0:23 ↗ had a chance to review two months ago's

0:26 ↗ minutes any corrections

0:31 ↗ uh with that uh the minutes are approved

0:35 ↗ previous

0:36 ↗ meeting uh now it's time for public

0:39 ↗ comments do have

0:42 ↗ any you're just

0:45 ↗ right okay thank

0:48 ↗ you uh moving on into regular

0:52 ↗ business uh I believe we've got a park

0:54 ↗ operations report from

1:02 ↗ he said he's going to

1:07 ↗ introduce um Rick has been our park

1:10 ↗ operations manager for boy three years

1:13 ↗ now you might recall through some of our

1:16 ↗ um budget reductions and budget changes

1:18 ↗ we had to reorganize our leadership team

1:21 ↗ um Rick has brought a wealth of

1:23 ↗ experience when he came to the city um

1:26 ↗ previously he was the Parks and

1:28 ↗ Recreation director in the city of teila

1:29 ↗ for 10 years um with that um experience

1:34 ↗ uh Rick is Now assistant director U so

1:37 ↗ not only overseeing park operations but

1:39 ↗ also uh providing direct day-to-day

1:41 ↗ leadership for our Recreation team um

1:45 ↗ great to have Rick here you know that

1:47 ↗ we've tried to set a Cadence a couple

1:48 ↗ times a year to come uh provide you some

1:51 ↗ just operational updates uh for park

1:54 ↗ operations uh as well as Recreation

1:56 ↗ tonight it be a focus on park operations

1:58 ↗ this has been a crazy winter as you'll

2:00 ↗ see in this update um the team has done

2:03 ↗ amazing work uh really called into

2:06 ↗ action with the

2:08 ↗ um really truly historic wind event um

2:12 ↗ and Mr really was I bless you the

2:15 ↗ epicenter of that and so Rick's here to

2:18 ↗ provide an overview of all that work um

2:20 ↗ as you're hearing this work though and I

2:22 ↗ don't know how much Rick is going to go

2:23 ↗ into detail winter is an important time

2:25 ↗ for Park Ops and we're often preparing

2:29 ↗ we're wrapping up sort of the growth

2:30 ↗ season and getting ready for our current

2:32 ↗ growth season we have really important

2:34 ↗ work we want to get done some of that

2:35 ↗ had to take a time out because of the

2:39 ↗ the wind work so um this is going to be

2:42 ↗ a different and um pretty impressive

2:46 ↗ spring for the park Ops Team they've

2:48 ↗ done nothing short of of pretty amazing

2:51 ↗ what they've done so sorry for the long

2:53 ↗ introduction Rick but take it away

2:55 ↗ perfect it'll last more than five

2:57 ↗ minutes

2:58 ↗ right so go next you can just stay

3:02 ↗ seated if you

3:07 ↗ want yeah so uh thanks Jeff appreciate

3:10 ↗ the introduction and we just get on with

3:12 ↗ park operations been here I think just

3:14 ↗ once before uh you'll probably see me

3:16 ↗ more often I'll be also pres presenting

3:19 ↗ Recreation on my second arm TST

3:21 ↗ Recreation staff to come which I think

3:23 ↗ is good uh so the park Operations

3:26 ↗ Division is split into two two different

3:29 ↗ sections uh most recently named one of

3:31 ↗ them Park stewardship and the other was

3:33 ↗ park

3:34 ↗ operations uh but Park stewardship is

3:37 ↗ the urban forestry park ranger and and

3:39 ↗ then green isqua coordinator and

3:41 ↗ volunteers we'll get into some of the

3:43 ↗ events they're doing later in the

3:45 ↗ presentation park operations is mostly

3:48 ↗ maintenance uh we do all the ball field

3:50 ↗ preps uh going all the Lawns and uh we

3:56 ↗ will soon be cleaning tennis courts over

3:58 ↗ here so quite a quite a few different

4:00 ↗ large variety of things uh and Jeff was

4:03 ↗ saying normally we finish a leaf season

4:06 ↗ get all the Leafs out of beds in areas

4:09 ↗ where we need to spray coming early

4:11 ↗ spring which would have been a couple

4:13 ↗ weeks ago when it was semi Dr uh but we

4:17 ↗ were

4:18 ↗ interrupted um we didn't finish all that

4:21 ↗ work and uh our staff spent from

4:25 ↗ November 20th to about February 15th

4:29 ↗ every day cleaning up

4:31 ↗ tree

4:33 ↗ um so it was like we usually have an

4:36 ↗ early morning meeting so what are we

4:37 ↗ going to do today was like chainsaws out

4:40 ↗ and here we go so um so the way we

4:43 ↗ responded to the storm event was um we

4:47 ↗ went through and did a windshield

4:48 ↗ analysis see what what was really really

4:50 ↗ bad when need to take be taken care of

4:52 ↗ right away we we took care of that and

4:54 ↗ then we started with the trails opening

4:57 ↗ up brainer Trail Pickering Trail got

5:00 ↗ those all just getting Stu to the side

5:02 ↗ you wouldn't believe that nobody was at

5:04 ↗ work we had no power nobody's so

5:06 ↗ everybody's out in the Parks and on the

5:07 ↗ trails so then we went to the parks and

5:10 ↗ we cleared cleared all the trails that

5:12 ↗ we could uh get it just moving things to

5:14 ↗ the side and that took about three weeks

5:17 ↗ just to push stuff aside um yeah here's

5:22 ↗ Confluence you can see the tree just

5:24 ↗ missed the restroom um and the Depot

5:28 ↗ Park was heavily

5:30 ↗ tree falling down every letter

5:33 ↗ Confluence was the most painful to me as

5:35 ↗ we went by just seeing every time I see

5:38 ↗ it just just break my heart um uh just

5:42 ↗ this last week last Thursday we we took

5:45 ↗ out the three remaining trees that were

5:47 ↗ still dangerous we just we get the

5:49 ↗ contractor back um and we spent every

5:52 ↗ day since cleaning up we have just T up

5:54 ↗ work tomorrow so one the one cotton was

5:57 ↗ 5 feet in diameter uh so two chunks of

6:01 ↗ it fill the D truck that's how big it

6:04 ↗ was so yeah we just finished that and

6:07 ↗ then um so once we cleared cleared

6:10 ↗ things the week and can get people

6:12 ↗ moving again uh then we went back and

6:14 ↗ did the same route but then we started

6:16 ↗ hauling stuff out and that's what took

6:18 ↗ forever um we did not do too much else

6:22 ↗ during the time except rounds which is

6:25 ↗ trash bathroom cleaning litter um so we

6:28 ↗ do that still a couple three days a week

6:30 ↗ other than that we did Tre Tre Tre um

6:35 ↗ and we spent over 2,900 hours uh in that

6:38 ↗ time period that's like one and a

6:41 ↗ quarter one of a third people that we

6:43 ↗ basically hours we lost to the storm uh

6:48 ↗ and then we also uh had to rent

6:52 ↗ equipment we rent exavator for three

6:54 ↗ months just to pick up and haul the

6:56 ↗ stuff because the works all their

6:58 ↗ equipment was being used on their stuff

7:00 ↗ so um we just have a bobcat so we

7:03 ↗ weren't really able to do as much as we

7:04 ↗ could excavator we don't have the tonage

7:07 ↗ for us where there's 440 tons taken out

7:10 ↗ Citywide and that's uh that includes

7:13 ↗ three events that we worked at too

7:15 ↗ community events that people brought

7:17 ↗ their debris to to uh tibot Valley Park

7:20 ↗ over here at the parking lot and we

7:22 ↗ loaded it up and uh Recology all the way

7:25 ↗ just all day long early morning evening

7:29 ↗ first three Saturdays almost b a row we

7:32 ↗ had Thanksgiving in

7:36 ↗ between uh so once we got every that's

7:39 ↗ what the park operations crew did the

7:41 ↗ urban forest

7:42 ↗ team uh Dan and I'm sure you've heard of

7:46 ↗ a couple times from it a couple times he

7:48 ↗ uh he run him and Matt meckler the so

7:51 ↗ he's Ur for supervisor Matt Park

7:53 ↗ operation supervisor they work with the

7:55 ↗ contractors and Consultants to get uh

7:58 ↗ treesy evalue in the Parks trails and

8:01 ↗ then all of our property that's

8:05 ↗ near open space that is near uh homes we

8:09 ↗ had to go out and evaluate those too as

8:11 ↗ many many did fall close wrong fences or

8:14 ↗ unfortunately not too many on homes so a

8:17 ↗ lot of consultant time to go out and

8:19 ↗ evaluate what's there does it need to be

8:22 ↗ removed and then uh then we had the

8:26 ↗ contractor come out and then remove them

8:28 ↗ so it's been a pretty long

8:30 ↗ process uh and it's all prioritize

8:32 ↗ within our city and also whatever else

8:35 ↗ they have to do the contractors sold

8:37 ↗ stuff to do there's many many times when

8:41 ↗ there's a tree on a house where they

8:42 ↗ couldn't come do our our work because

8:45 ↗ priority so that's part of the

8:47 ↗ Staggering now staring out the

8:49 ↗ work

8:52 ↗ um the the they also worked with uh City

8:56 ↗ trees that fill across the creek uh and

8:59 ↗ if we can get it the emergency permit we

9:01 ↗ are able to remove move the Woody debris

9:05 ↗ um most of it we stored up on the sides

9:07 ↗ because it has to go back in the creek

9:09 ↗ we still have several logs that are

9:10 ↗ going across the creek that didn't meet

9:13 ↗ the emergency criteria basically because

9:15 ↗ it span the entire Creek it wasn't in

9:17 ↗ the water wasn't causing any potential

9:19 ↗ flooding items so that's that's pretty

9:22 ↗ much where we're at on those those trees

9:25 ↗ um there's some been some really fun

9:27 ↗ operations to watch as they have a 90ft

9:29 ↗ crane to come in and they hook up to the

9:32 ↗ tree they cut it they haul it lay it

9:34 ↗ down and put it in the back of a DK a

9:36 ↗ big long Hall truck uh and just haul it

9:39 ↗ away

9:41 ↗ uh pretty impressive operation that U

9:45 ↗ yes totally curious assuming it's not

9:47 ↗ blocking a trail

9:49 ↗ stream Vents and it just fell in the r

9:52 ↗ of trees you just leave it we've left

9:54 ↗ left almost everything you can even see

9:56 ↗ the Confluence where we have uprooted

9:58 ↗ trees that are Lane in the wooded areas

10:00 ↗ we've left some of the trees we've

10:02 ↗ pushed into that area just because it'll

10:04 ↗ rot over time yeah um marg's metal the

10:09 ↗ other side of Confluence is that the

10:11 ↗ whole Road like nine trees that all fell

10:13 ↗ down we cleared off the trail and

10:16 ↗ left um and the last thing we're we're

10:19 ↗ working on besides that continually

10:21 ↗ doing the contract we're still doing

10:23 ↗ consultant work contract work is we uh

10:26 ↗ evaluated we located all of our our tree

10:29 ↗ stuff so what's left the MS out there

10:32 ↗ and we all put it on our fields map so

10:34 ↗ we go out put it on our map so we and I

10:37 ↗ did a priority or evaluation of it um

10:41 ↗ and is a safety issue um is it just a

10:46 ↗ settings uh and we're putting together a

10:49 ↗ bid packet to go on have contractors we

10:52 ↗ are out of time uh we're already mowing

10:55 ↗ so we're out of time so we're putting a

10:56 ↗ bid packet together to take care of

10:58 ↗ those priorities items first uh and then

11:01 ↗ work work through those as we can over

11:04 ↗ the next couple years probably if it's

11:06 ↗ not an

11:07 ↗ emergency uh or high priority and that's

11:11 ↗ pretty much the three Rs of what I been

11:13 ↗ call exist so removal restoration of the

11:16 ↗ area and then

11:17 ↗ replanting and uh we're starting some of

11:20 ↗ that replanting uh April 5th is part of

11:23 ↗ our Arbor Day project uh we'll be

11:25 ↗ starting that Arbor Day program we'

11:27 ↗ starting that uh at Confluence Park

11:30 ↗ already have the trees really good shape

11:32 ↗ they look really

11:34 ↗ nice the bigger trees typically yeah so

11:37 ↗ they're not the little Twigs they're

11:39 ↗ actually be B&B be be root ball be ball

11:46 ↗ fap uh so there'll be a big hole stick

11:48 ↗ them in Stick stake them up uh but yes

11:52 ↗ much uh greater variety that was was out

11:56 ↗ there uh we are putting a willow back

11:58 ↗ where the willow was but uh we'll get a

12:00 ↗ lot of blooming trees out there too that

12:02 ↗ will not grow 100 120 ft tall which

12:06 ↗ become these dangerous trees and we're

12:08 ↗ not planting cottonwoods in case you

12:10 ↗ love

12:12 ↗ cottonwoods so just there's just a few

12:14 ↗ pictures of some of the trail work we

12:16 ↗ did just one going one on the left so

12:18 ↗ show the girth that we were running into

12:22 ↗ um we we took most we took care of most

12:25 ↗ of the trees uh there are there are

12:27 ↗ trees which have that have um are high

12:30 ↗ up that we don't take care of or they

12:32 ↗ just have tension that we know it's

12:33 ↗ going to spring or pop we left out to

12:36 ↗ the guys that do trees every

12:38 ↗ day

12:40 ↗ so yeah so the one on the bottom is the

12:43 ↗ Rainer Trail so that's what we had a

12:45 ↗ clear for people just push to the side

12:47 ↗ to to get people to be able to

12:50 ↗ move and then we also had the uh WCC

12:54 ↗ Washington Conservation Corps help us uh

12:57 ↗ normally they are out in the woods you

12:59 ↗ know removing Blackberry from open space

13:01 ↗ but they they spent a lot of time doing

13:04 ↗ storm removal as well so uh we're hoping

13:07 ↗ to get them back and uh this year uh

13:10 ↗ possibly to fill in a couple of more

13:11 ↗ weeks of work that they normally do so

13:14 ↗ that's Salmon Run Park uh berston Park

13:16 ↗ sorry um you can see where the fence was

13:19 ↗ taken out and then the the whole park

13:22 ↗ looked like that mess there um and then

13:25 ↗ they were able to clean it all up so

13:27 ↗ they haul it back at put in a dimster we

13:30 ↗ haul it away so it's been a good team to

13:34 ↗ work

13:34 ↗ with um threee Replacements uh this is

13:39 ↗ from Dan slide that he made to council

13:41 ↗ actually we had over 250 trees almost

13:44 ↗ 300 trees that we lost in in our Parks

13:49 ↗ or our rideway not including open space

13:52 ↗ we estimated over a thousand trees up in

13:54 ↗ the woods that we

13:56 ↗ lost uh so about 275 $5,000 to replace

14:01 ↗ after

14:02 ↗ we remove the stump restore the land to

14:06 ↗ where you can plant uh some of the

14:08 ↗ stumps we may leave in place so the tree

14:10 ↗ won't go to the exact spot or go next

14:12 ↗ door and that's all identified on the

14:13 ↗ map since I metion earlier um oh wow I

14:17 ↗ jumped ahead we talked about Arbor Day

14:20 ↗ good stuff green isal events we have a

14:23 ↗ few coming up quite a few actually uh

14:26 ↗ the big kickoff will be Arbor Day coming

14:28 ↗ up uh followed up by Earth B um so Arbor

14:32 ↗ days like I mentions that Confluence

14:34 ↗ Park uh it's going to be a a fun time a

14:37 ↗ lot of lot of good stuff going on there

14:39 ↗ like I said all the trees and there's

14:41 ↗ big wood PES of wood chips there too uh

14:45 ↗ to deal with so I don't don't want to

14:47 ↗ read these to you we uh the next week

14:50 ↗ after that is Earth Day so we're having

14:52 ↗ a special event it's a Costco event um

14:57 ↗ at Pickering reach uh and Kimberly Clark

15:01 ↗ so private event we have several of

15:03 ↗ those and uh you can see on the next

15:09 ↗ slide at the last slide

15:12 ↗ sorry U some of the work that's been

15:14 ↗ done out there uh this one is uh at gibs

15:18 ↗ and E uh they have uh internship

15:21 ↗ programs and if kids don't sign up for

15:23 ↗ internship programs then they they get

15:25 ↗ selected to work with us uh which was is

15:29 ↗ really good really close the pool really

15:30 ↗ close one of the projects they had is

15:33 ↗ was there wasn't a whole lot of uh trees

15:35 ↗ and branches in this particular area is

15:37 ↗ just bowels and a little few Limbs and

15:40 ↗ they they spent two3 days on their

15:43 ↗ internship time painting that up so um I

15:46 ↗ think they'll probably get an internship

15:48 ↗ next

15:49 ↗ time

15:52 ↗ um oh and then uh last

15:55 ↗ weekend yeah we had a big event going on

15:58 ↗ which was really cool I don't know how

15:59 ↗ to say the

16:01 ↗ name

16:04 ↗ milwauke I knew I I knew I could get it

16:07 ↗ me awae um so uh our staff went in and

16:11 ↗ uh cleaned up Roa till brought in all

16:15 ↗ kinds of soil so this is a a special way

16:19 ↗ to do planting and urban settings uh

16:22 ↗ pretty becoming more of a norm as a new

16:25 ↗ new way so we did all the the prep work

16:28 ↗ and then on the next slide you can see

16:30 ↗ that uh we had a lot of uh a group of

16:34 ↗ people put out the plants where they go

16:37 ↗ and then we had uh 25 I think it was

16:40 ↗ volunteers plant all those plants 600

16:43 ↗ plants uh in that very very small area

16:46 ↗ you guys you know where this is on

16:48 ↗ Dogwood okay right before uh if you're

16:52 ↗ going east right before uh yeah right

16:56 ↗ across the bridge before you get to uh

16:58 ↗ front stre

17:00 ↗ um so anyway it's all planed now the

17:03 ↗ pack was due before I could get that in

17:05 ↗ there but uh funny event was really wet

17:09 ↗ uh it rained and then it rained really

17:11 ↗ hard everybody came out muddy uh sent me

17:14 ↗ I didn't get

17:16 ↗ dirty great great event if I could add I

17:19 ↗ think the Milwaukee Forest um approach

17:23 ↗ is innovative in that um it makes sense

17:27 ↗ but whereas a lot of replanting events

17:30 ↗ focus on the plants the Milwaukee Forest

17:32 ↗ approach really takes intentionality in

17:34 ↗ the soil as well so a lot of soil

17:36 ↗ amendment work that was done ahead of

17:39 ↗ time by the team um and what's found

17:41 ↗ with sort of this dense planting um and

17:44 ↗ a higher concentration and focus on the

17:46 ↗ soil U there's a lot of um a lot quicker

17:50 ↗ growth in terms of reforestation so we

17:53 ↗ look forward to seeing how this pilot um

17:56 ↗ looks and and works here in town

17:58 ↗ hopefully it's something that we can

18:00 ↗ emulate through future green isua events

18:04 ↗ and how we want to replant and and

18:06 ↗ reforest key areas in

18:09 ↗ town yeah and April 24th we're going to

18:12 ↗ go back and bark it so be dropping some

18:14 ↗ piles of witch chips out there for them

18:16 ↗ to spread out there so it's been a real

18:19 ↗ good lots of people I recognize actually

18:22 ↗ a few faces from other events um our WCC

18:26 ↗ site coordinator is actually out there

18:28 ↗ life so

18:29 ↗ that was fun um yeah good good event uh

18:34 ↗ and then I now I get to good um to the

18:37 ↗ Costco event the private events uh and

18:41 ↗ that highlighted granted table T was

18:43 ↗ supposed to actually tell you the name

18:44 ↗ of the Grant and that we got $188,000

18:46 ↗ that's for me to go back to so I

18:48 ↗ apologize on that one but uh but now you

18:51 ↗ know we got a grant for that uh and you

18:54 ↗ see the before and after and then we

18:56 ↗ look forward to more changes out there

18:58 ↗ as well um been very committed group of

19:01 ↗ people uh working out there

19:06 ↗ so that's exciting exciting times of the

19:10 ↗ storm response any

19:14 ↗ questions yeah has there been like the

19:19 ↗ Thousand fall trees in open space of the

19:21 ↗ fire r or sense

19:25 ↗ of that at all in the coming summer

19:29 ↗ not of ones that have fallen now well

19:32 ↗ yeah I think overall in terms of our

19:34 ↗ forest surrounding Forest there is

19:36 ↗ continued work happening between the

19:39 ↗ City Emergency Management folks butin

19:42 ↗ Parks um Ean rescue and looking at um so

19:47 ↗ our fire preparedness and and Fire

19:50 ↗ Prevention um so yeah we've not done a

19:53 ↗ tree by tree analysis of those thousand

19:56 ↗ trees but we certainly will be paying

19:58 ↗ attention to under story and you know

20:01 ↗ how to

20:02 ↗ prioritize the value of retaining some

20:04 ↗ of those trees for Habitat because

20:07 ↗ that's what naturally happens in the

20:09 ↗ forest but making sure we're not

20:11 ↗ creating a fire risk usually not one

20:15 ↗ night

20:16 ↗ though usually not in one

20:20 ↗ night Tim has a question I think Tim

20:22 ↗ hands

20:24 ↗ up hi thank you yeah great presentation

20:27 ↗ um so obviously you're focusing on the

20:31 ↗ parks and what have you and that's

20:33 ↗ appropriate but I'm also aware that

20:35 ↗ there are places like up on Squawk on

20:38 ↗ the east side by the old Grizz Trail the

20:40 ↗ East Side trail that just absolutely got

20:43 ↗ hammered um just impressive if you were

20:47 ↗ familiar with the area and what it looks

20:48 ↗ like now and I would assume that's

20:52 ↗ outside of the scope but I just wondered

20:54 ↗ if you can speak to any

20:56 ↗ replanting um projects that make may be

20:58 ↗ done up there or will it be left for

21:01 ↗ nature to take its

21:03 ↗ course well we we do have plans on

21:06 ↗ getting out into the Open Spaces to

21:10 ↗ start replanting uh that will not be

21:13 ↗ right away uh and they will be more of

21:16 ↗ the smaller know one foot

21:20 ↗ tall plant that gets in the ground so um

21:24 ↗ it won't be go going in and putting like

21:26 ↗ R Confluence we're big putting in big

21:29 ↗ big trees um so yes there there's some

21:32 ↗ some plans towards that as well as uh

21:35 ↗ cleaning up all those Trails because

21:37 ↗ right now you go to the go to it and

21:40 ↗ basically from edge to edge is all you

21:42 ↗ got so we're going to go in and do all

21:45 ↗ that but that's that's that's uh

21:47 ↗ hopefully happening some of that this

21:49 ↗ summer uh but um it depends who we can

21:52 ↗ get under our contract because we have

21:53 ↗ no staff time for that right now but so

21:56 ↗ Tim if I could add rck is working with

21:59 ↗ Dan we're we're we're yes putting

22:02 ↗ together plans for replanting

22:05 ↗ reforesting both within our Parks um and

22:08 ↗ streetscapes but also the open space

22:10 ↗ areas I think as Rick said earlier

22:13 ↗ that's a pretty hefty price tag the city

22:15 ↗ doesn't have right now we realize it's

22:16 ↗ going to be a multi-year effort um but

22:19 ↗ yes there will be plans in place for and

22:22 ↗ priorities U for areas um of of how and

22:26 ↗ and when we uh we plant in a number of

22:30 ↗ those open space

22:31 ↗ areas right Jeff that makes perfect

22:34 ↗ sense and I know on squawk in particular

22:36 ↗ there's a lot of overlapping

22:37 ↗ jurisdictions so I didn't know if we

22:39 ↗ were coordinating with the county or you

22:42 ↗ know whomever to try to you know you

22:46 ↗ know multiply the efforts that are being

22:47 ↗ done and make sure there's no overlap or

22:49 ↗ duplication of effort um yeah absolutely

22:53 ↗ we'll we will prioritize the the city on

22:56 ↗ land but we yeah as always we'll be

22:58 ↗ partner with the other the public other

23:00 ↗ public land owners um you know what RI

23:03 ↗ Rick mentioned our relationship with

23:05 ↗ Washington Conservation Corps that's

23:07 ↗ just a great example of how we work

23:09 ↗ between jurisdictions they're a group

23:11 ↗ out of the state department of ecology

23:14 ↗ um so um tons of inner jurisdictional

23:18 ↗ conversation as we're as we're doing all

23:20 ↗ this

23:22 ↗ work thank you any questions yeah so is

23:27 ↗ is East Sunset Trail Head you noticed

23:31 ↗ that all the lines aren't straight out

23:34 ↗ there for who owns what we we were very

23:37 ↗ unfortunate that the line went this way

23:39 ↗ and that way because all the trees that

23:41 ↗ fell on the homes were not ours so dnrs

23:44 ↗ actually dealing with those and the

23:46 ↗ homeowners on that one but you still see

23:48 ↗ a look up the hill and those are trees

23:50 ↗ not the ones that fell

23:52 ↗ on that's a great example of sort of a

23:55 ↗ jigo um property line so the UN State

23:59 ↗ Department of Natural Resources and us

24:01 ↗ are constantly

24:05 ↗ communication Mt is really good on the

24:07 ↗ map so we get a lot of calls about our

24:10 ↗ stuff K County usually so that

24:13 ↗ that's anything

24:17 ↗ else thank you

24:28 ↗ reports so Jeff you have multiple items

24:32 ↗ correct I've got I've got multiple items

24:34 ↗ so I if you want to go first or you want

24:36 ↗ me to jump right in happy to uh I'll say

24:39 ↗ I have just like a five sentence report

24:41 ↗ I'll do it at the

24:43 ↗ end

24:44 ↗ okay something I'm gonna

24:47 ↗ share sure

24:50 ↗ my screen see if I can find the

24:53 ↗ presentation

24:59 ↗ hi all multitasking

25:14 ↗ here I can't find the power

25:19 ↗ pation am I doing hey I'm sharing great

25:23 ↗ so hi all a number of items to update

25:26 ↗ you um I will take these

25:29 ↗ just make it full screen there yeah

25:32 ↗ there we go um one at a time I need

25:35 ↗ to now so I can see that's so long uh

25:39 ↗ number of items STD to on it's certainly

25:41 ↗ been a very very busy couple of months

25:43 ↗ um knowing we didn't have a chance to

25:46 ↗ meet uh didn't have a meeting in January

25:49 ↗ uh one of the items that early February

25:51 ↗ I wanted to update you on were some

25:53 ↗ recent Park Acquisitions we um have been

25:56 ↗ working on over a number of years

25:59 ↗ um last month February 24th a month ago

26:02 ↗ tonight uh we took to city council two

26:04 ↗ property Acquisitions um I'm sharing

26:07 ↗ with you this slide this is the the

26:08 ↗ slides that Robin and I showed following

26:12 ↗ the executive session what we showed

26:14 ↗ that night um just so I can highlight

26:18 ↗ these two properties and their priority

26:21 ↗ We'll add these to the minutes uh so

26:23 ↗ that they're in a public record for this

26:27 ↗ meeting as well um these two

26:30 ↗ Acquisitions uh represent come on

26:37 ↗ slideshow here we go

26:40 ↗ y this first one is uh what we call the

26:43 ↗ kar property of squawk Mountain um you

26:46 ↗ may be familiar

26:49 ↗ with my cursor

26:52 ↗ work sort of working sorry I wish I had

26:55 ↗ a laser pointer this green parcel is

26:58 ↗ known as the Waymouth property that we

27:00 ↗ purchased in

27:02 ↗ 2022 the Kari piece is really the

27:04 ↗ adjoining piece this yellow property

27:07 ↗ 17.7 Acres if you're familiar with the

27:10 ↗ name kilari there was a phase multiple

27:13 ↗ phase development there are two town

27:16 ↗ home condo projects phase one and phase

27:18 ↗ two that were completed on the north

27:21 ↗ side of sunrise this was the plan phase

27:24 ↗ three um we felt this was a a prity

27:28 ↗ opportunity for the city to consider

27:30 ↗ purchasing um really mainly to uh

27:34 ↗ reinforce and really formalize a strong

27:37 ↗ Corridor U from the valley floor up into

27:41 ↗ squawk Mountain so when you look at all

27:43 ↗ the trails trail system within squawk

27:45 ↗ and State Park uh there's not a lot of

27:48 ↗ direct public access from the valley 4

27:51 ↗ and from Oldtown um this um acquisition

27:55 ↗ combined with what was accomplished with

27:57 ↗ the the

27:58 ↗ [Music]

28:00 ↗ Waymouth property really creates that

28:02 ↗ strong Corridor opportunity for some

28:05 ↗ smaller Loop Trails Within These two

28:07 ↗ properties but then a much stronger

28:09 ↗ connection to the state park uh this red

28:12 ↗ Trail that's on this map is existing one

28:15 ↗ of the key reasons for um this purchase

28:18 ↗ and negotiation with kilari was one what

28:22 ↗ even if the the proposed development was

28:25 ↗ going to happen this current existing

28:27 ↗ Trail was was never formalized with an

28:29 ↗ easement so it was pretty important to

28:32 ↗ to preserve that um either through a

28:35 ↗ trail easement um or ultimately what is

28:38 ↗ turned into an

28:40 ↗ acquisition a few facts about this I

28:43 ↗ mentioned 17 and a half acres provides

28:46 ↗ that strong assemblage with

28:48 ↗ whou it also creates an opportunity with

28:51 ↗ its um Frontage on suiz or an

28:55 ↗ opportunity for to consider a trail h

28:59 ↗ in that location there's really not a

29:02 ↗ trail head to get access to squat

29:05 ↗ Mountain if you remember for our Park

29:06 ↗ strategic plan one of our goals for our

29:11 ↗ system is to be that Gateway into all

29:14 ↗ the Alps um as we've talked over the

29:17 ↗ years we all know the the strength of

29:21 ↗ our connection to West tiger and Tiger

29:23 ↗ Mountain through Decades of hard work by

29:25 ↗ this community uh we're playing catchup

29:28 ↗ a little bit with Cougar Mountain uh

29:30 ↗ thus in 2019 the acquisition of the

29:33 ↗ bergsma piece really strengthening that

29:35 ↗ Corridor we feel like this Kari purchase

29:38 ↗ and the Waymouth purchase becomes that

29:40 ↗ really strong future quor for

29:43 ↗ connectivity U up into squawk Mountain

29:47 ↗ purchase price was $25

29:49 ↗ million uh this is going to be a delayed

29:51 ↗ closing uh meaning we're going to have

29:53 ↗ till spring of next end of March of next

29:56 ↗ year we'll actually close on it that's

29:58 ↗ going to give us a grant cycle we've

30:00 ↗ already submitted a grant for King

30:01 ↗ County Conservation Futures Grant funds

30:04 ↗ um we'll be going through that

30:06 ↗ application process here in the coming

30:08 ↗ months and the review process um end of

30:10 ↗ April in fact we have a a tour date

30:13 ↗ already scheduled with the review commit

30:16 ↗ committee on that so uh we're hopeful

30:19 ↗ that a good portion of this acquisition

30:20 ↗ will be done through uh through those

30:23 ↗ Grant dollarss

30:29 ↗ don't need to read the motion tonight

30:30 ↗ this is the motion that Council took to

30:32 ↗ approve it uh the other properties here

30:34 ↗ on the valley floor uh for

30:37 ↗ context um all of this green space

30:40 ↗ Veterans Memorial Field here's Front

30:42 ↗ Street and Oldtown um you know our

30:45 ↗ pedestrian Park project and our senior

30:47 ↗ centers right here um this canoon

30:51 ↗ property is a small relatively small

30:55 ↗ parcel that provides connection um

30:58 ↗ to the Kora property the cor property is

31:01 ↗ this triangle that was purchased years

31:03 ↗ ago is a life estate just recently was

31:06 ↗ turned over to City of isqua operation

31:09 ↗ um this we haven't labeled it this

31:12 ↗ squiggly line is East Fork of isqua

31:15 ↗ Creek uh the East Fork in this area has

31:18 ↗ notoriously been um

31:21 ↗ channelized um and has been susceptible

31:24 ↗ to um blockage and some flooding over

31:27 ↗ the years so one of our strategies not

31:30 ↗ only for um create creating a a stronger

31:33 ↗ connection from Kora in the neighborhood

31:36 ↗ into Veterans Memorial Field and Oldtown

31:39 ↗ and all the investment we're making here

31:41 ↗ but also give some opportunity for um

31:45 ↗ some Creek restoration as we continue to

31:49 ↗ pursue planning and and acquisition on

31:52 ↗ that

31:55 ↗ Eastport so much small than the kakari

31:58 ↗ p.1 Acres um connectivity and the salmon

32:03 ↗ recovery efforts are a high high

32:05 ↗ priority uh for the city not only Parks

32:08 ↗ but um Public Work storm water as well

32:11 ↗ as um

32:13 ↗ sustainability teams this purchase price

32:16 ↗ was $900,000 we'll be closing on this

32:20 ↗ later this spring uh the end of

32:23 ↗ May um I also would note as we made this

32:27 ↗ acquisition position we um have been

32:29 ↗ working with um RCL the recreation

32:32 ↗ conservation office in the state of

32:34 ↗ Washington

32:37 ↗ um there is potential need um as you

32:40 ↗ might recall as we've talked with you

32:42 ↗ all about Samus Cove Park sorry to

32:45 ↗ complicate things samam Cove Park is the

32:47 ↗ property near Lake s State Park that

32:50 ↗ Washington department of transportation

32:52 ↗ is planning to do some work on um

32:55 ↗ there's been some other commitments the

32:56 ↗ cities have made the city's made over

32:58 ↗ the year there's potential need for

32:59 ↗ doing some conversion should that work

33:01 ↗ happen U part of this strategic purchase

33:05 ↗ is not only for that connectivity um as

33:08 ↗ I was saying earlier but could could

33:10 ↗ serve as a conversion site um if needed

33:15 ↗ in the future

33:17 ↗ so that's the canoon

33:22 ↗ property I'm going to turn this off any

33:24 ↗ questions about those purchases again

33:27 ↗ Council took action already just wanted

33:29 ↗ to to make sure you were in the loop and

33:32 ↗ again if you have any questions on

33:35 ↗ those happy to answer

33:42 ↗ them hearing none I'm going to continue

33:45 ↗ on perhaps salty when I get to the

33:48 ↗ project updates do you mind sharing the

33:50 ↗ slides awesome

33:52 ↗ than awesome so next update I wanted to

33:55 ↗ provide is um King County Parks Levy uh

34:01 ↗ many of you probably know uh probably

34:03 ↗ for 20 some years now King County Parks

34:06 ↗ every six years has gone out to voters

34:08 ↗ asking for a Parks Levy what started in

34:12 ↗ 2004 as an emergency Levy to keep their

34:15 ↗ park system open um at a time when they

34:18 ↗ were uh transferring many of their

34:21 ↗ Community parks to cities transferring

34:22 ↗ their pools to cities um this Parks Levy

34:26 ↗ has gone through multiple six-year

34:28 ↗ iterations it's now grown into really

34:30 ↗ fully funding their growing County Park

34:33 ↗ system um um as cities have seen what is

34:38 ↗ being proposed uh for um this renewal

34:43 ↗ that's going to likely go to voters

34:45 ↗ sometime this fall uh cities not just is

34:48 ↗ but cities throughout the county

34:50 ↗ beginning to express some pretty major

34:52 ↗ concerns not that we don't support the

34:54 ↗ county park system huge huge support for

34:57 ↗ the county park system and what that

34:59 ↗ Regional Park system and Regional Trails

35:01 ↗ really do um but what As Cities we

35:04 ↗ collectively are beginning to

35:06 ↗ communicate and communicate in a much

35:08 ↗ stronger way these last couple months is

35:11 ↗ there's 30 plus local park systems City

35:14 ↗ Park systems that really comprise the

35:16 ↗ backbone of of what parks is for

35:19 ↗ communities um and those have been

35:21 ↗ grossly underfunded um as this Levy has

35:25 ↗ continued to increase uh to to a point

35:28 ↗ where cities are really concerned about

35:30 ↗ proportionality for example isqua in the

35:33 ↗ proposed Levy um at least in what's

35:36 ↗ proposed right now before the King

35:37 ↗ County Council about $4 million of

35:40 ↗ Revenue would be collected from isqua

35:42 ↗ par Isa Property Owners um under 8% of

35:47 ↗ that would be directly reallocated back

35:49 ↗ to the city to support the city park

35:51 ↗ system um and City yeah city parks um as

35:57 ↗ cities we want to make sure there's a a

36:00 ↗ voice and and rather than being a single

36:02 ↗ City trying to to communicate that um

36:05 ↗ cities have working with some of our

36:08 ↗ bigger Collective groups sound cities

36:10 ↗ Association is a group that represents

36:12 ↗ all cities um again a lot of

36:16 ↗ communication happening between the

36:17 ↗ elected officials between Park

36:19 ↗ professionals between City

36:21 ↗ administrators and city managers um just

36:24 ↗ wanted to make you aware of that context

36:27 ↗ and convers

36:28 ↗ if you hear cities are pushing back a

36:30 ↗ little bit it's not cities are anti-

36:33 ↗ Regional Park system we very much value

36:36 ↗ the county park system we just believe

36:39 ↗ that uh residents who are both

36:42 ↗ supporting financially the county park

36:43 ↗ system also think it's really really

36:45 ↗ important that they have viant healthy

36:49 ↗ um Quality City Park systems as well so

36:54 ↗ much more to come in the coming weeks um

36:56 ↗ I'll have more more of an update to you

36:59 ↗ through uh to provide through the spring

37:00 ↗ and summer as that Levy package begins

37:04 ↗ to take shape but please stay informed

37:08 ↗ um

37:09 ↗ and see where that

37:12 ↗ goes questions on that

37:16 ↗ yeah yeah Jeff I just wanted to make

37:19 ↗ sure I understood you correctly that for

37:21 ↗ every dollar is collected from isqua

37:24 ↗ Property Owners 8 cents comes back to

37:26 ↗ isqua park is that what you said yes

37:29 ↗ correct in terms of a direct allocation

37:31 ↗ to the city correct

37:33 ↗ yes wow okay well we're somebody's

37:38 ↗ getting more money than they're putting

37:39 ↗ in we're not getting anywhere near the

37:42 ↗ amount uh can you share a little bit

37:44 ↗ more about how that kind

37:46 ↗ of what that looks like uh at a little

37:50 ↗ higher

37:51 ↗ level yeah so this is the King King

37:54 ↗ County Parks has a regional park system

37:56 ↗ right so when you think of the Berke

37:58 ↗ Gilman Trail and the East Lake C Trail

38:01 ↗ and marrymore park and many of the

38:04 ↗ county parks um in unincorporated County

38:08 ↗ areas um that's where a bulk of the

38:10 ↗ funding is going um it fully funds their

38:14 ↗ Ark operations um as I said over the

38:18 ↗ over the decades um

38:21 ↗ this this Levy has is my opinion is

38:28 ↗ um representing an investment between

38:31 ↗ the regional park system and the local

38:33 ↗ park system that was never really um

38:36 ↗ intended it feels from us as Park

38:38 ↗ professionals disproportionate when you

38:41 ↗ look at um and even when residents are

38:44 ↗ surveyed as part of this um community

38:47 ↗ outreach for this uh Levy uh so many of

38:50 ↗ the resident responses their priorities

38:52 ↗ were access to their local parks

38:54 ↗ improvements to their neighborhood parks

38:57 ↗ um um better access to trails in and

38:59 ↗ around and through their city

39:03 ↗ so sorry I'm going Beyond answering your

39:06 ↗ question I apologize so it's it's it's

39:08 ↗ funding the the county park system it's

39:11 ↗ not funding other the same 8 n% is what

39:16 ↗ other cities are

39:17 ↗ getting as

39:20 ↗ well okay so isqua is on par with the

39:22 ↗ other cities it's just going for the

39:25 ↗ other County Park systems the other 92%

39:29 ↗ is going to fund the county park systems

39:31 ↗ and all the other cities are

39:34 ↗ contributing at essentially the same

39:35 ↗ rate other programs exactly exactly

39:38 ↗ there are other and there's information

39:40 ↗ if you go to the County website does a

39:42 ↗ much better job than what I'm saying in

39:44 ↗ terms of where your investment is going

39:46 ↗ there's other um facilities that have

39:49 ↗ been deemed Regional that get a pretty

39:52 ↗ good portion of this Woodland Park Zoo

39:54 ↗ the Seattle Aquarium a number of those

39:57 ↗ really really important Investments and

39:59 ↗ assets that um again aren't meant to say

40:02 ↗ they're not important

40:04 ↗ but um the the the bulk of that

40:07 ↗ investment is going um yeah is going a

40:11 ↗ wide variety of places other than other

40:13 ↗ than City Park systems okay thank I just

40:15 ↗ want to make sure I heard you

40:18 ↗ correctly question is there anything at

40:22 ↗ this stage for like citizen level to do

40:25 ↗ B pressure or any

40:27 ↗ that at this stage we can do yeah great

40:30 ↗ question Paul I I I don't think so I

40:33 ↗ don't think there's enough there's no

40:34 ↗ there

40:35 ↗ that what what is what has been the

40:38 ↗ executive the county executive has

40:41 ↗ proposed what what they want what he

40:44 ↗ wants as um the the ly package that's

40:47 ↗ now before the King County Council again

40:50 ↗ I think there's a web page that um does

40:53 ↗ a good job of spelling out what the

40:54 ↗ executive's proposal is um if you as a

40:57 ↗ resident wanted to take a look at that

40:59 ↗ and if you had um concerns or questions

41:02 ↗ uh you could contact your King County

41:05 ↗ council rep is council member Perry

41:08 ↗ Sarah Perry um and and voice those

41:12 ↗ questions or or concerns I would say in

41:14 ↗ the next two to three weeks um County

41:17 ↗ council's um set to make a decision so

41:21 ↗ again a lot of discussion happening um

41:24 ↗ this is really beginning to to Bubble Up

41:26 ↗ so I would say in the I would say in the

41:29 ↗ next couple of weeks as I said earlier

41:32 ↗ next month or so we'll have a better

41:33 ↗ idea of what um next steps might

41:37 ↗ be not enough time for any sort of

41:40 ↗ collective but certainly as individual

41:42 ↗ residents or welcome to to get

41:47 ↗ informed all right uh next item um in

41:51 ↗ line with thank you Rick again for

41:53 ↗ really highlighting our park operations

41:55 ↗ team if you remember that opening slide

41:58 ↗ uh we have really what we've I think

41:59 ↗ done a great job of in this city and

42:02 ↗ through support of the mayor through

42:04 ↗ support of the the city council through

42:06 ↗ great work of of Staff we've really

42:09 ↗ strengthened our Natural Resources

42:10 ↗ Division within park operations with Dan

42:13 ↗ is our Urban Flor supervisor the

42:16 ↗ establishment of the green istic program

42:17 ↗ is really starting to take root um our

42:20 ↗ park ranger is really starting to um I

42:23 ↗ think be that very visible Ambassador

42:26 ↗ within our our part system um all of

42:28 ↗ those programs take resources um and as

42:33 ↗ the urban Forest management plan was

42:35 ↗ recently adopted as we saw some of the

42:37 ↗ vulnerability of our forest uh here

42:40 ↗ through the recent storm uh the mayor

42:42 ↗ has wanting to convene uh community

42:45 ↗ members to sort of talk about our the

42:48 ↗ natural resources side of what we do and

42:51 ↗ have a I don't know that it has a formal

42:53 ↗ name I'm going to make up this name sort

42:55 ↗ of a forestry Summit um is has been

42:58 ↗ called and the mayor is going to be

43:00 ↗ hosting it here April 10th um at the

43:02 ↗ Manor uh really meant to just be a an

43:05 ↗ opening conversation with Community

43:07 ↗ Voices to say hey is this work important

43:09 ↗ to you here's what we've done the last

43:11 ↗ five or six years in this field is this

43:13 ↗ of value to you and if so how do we look

43:16 ↗ at creative ways of either getting

43:20 ↗ additional private investment to help

43:22 ↗ support our work or to or to quite

43:24 ↗ frankly leverage more and do more of

43:26 ↗ this work

43:27 ↗ um again that'll be April 10th um if any

43:31 ↗ of you are interested in uh being there

43:34 ↗ um let me know or or let H know and

43:37 ↗ we'll make sure uh to get an invitation

43:40 ↗ coming your

43:44 ↗ way all right where do I want to go next

43:47 ↗ um a lighter topic uh summer day camps

43:51 ↗ um Here Comes summer um little highlight

43:54 ↗ on our Recreation side um summer day

43:57 ↗ camps have always been a very

43:58 ↗ interesting needle to thread in that we

44:01 ↗ do registration on a given day and this

44:03 ↗ last Saturday was our first day of

44:05 ↗ registration um we sometimes fill those

44:07 ↗ in 10 minutes and we don't necessarily

44:09 ↗ find that to be it's great sort of a

44:11 ↗ badge of our like wow what to PO in the

44:13 ↗ program and it isn't quite the customer

44:15 ↗ service that we want to provide and so

44:17 ↗ Recreation staff through this last

44:19 ↗ winter has done a great job we've

44:21 ↗ reformatted our day camps we've added

44:24 ↗ we've gone from 60 spots in our most

44:26 ↗ popular camp water spots um for this

44:29 ↗ coming summer we opened up day camp

44:32 ↗ registration on Saturday um it's always

44:35 ↗ a little bit of a nervous day for us in

44:37 ↗ terms of hey let's make sure our

44:39 ↗ Software System holds up to the demand

44:42 ↗ but uh again really strong registration

44:45 ↗ we're really glad to see with those 100

44:46 ↗ extra spots we still have some openings

44:49 ↗ in a number of the weeks some of the

44:50 ↗ weeks are already filled but it's it's

44:53 ↗ telling us that we're getting a little

44:54 ↗ bit closer to being able to to meet uh

44:58 ↗ to meet that need so um um I we'll have

45:02 ↗ Rick back here in in a in a couple

45:04 ↗ months uh to give a recreation sort of

45:06 ↗ programming update but uh I just want to

45:09 ↗ give a that VI that update really a

45:12 ↗ public um kudos to our our Recreation

45:15 ↗ team for just demonstrating their

45:18 ↗ ability to

45:20 ↗ to or take a new look at how we offer

45:23 ↗ our camp programs and make sure we're

45:24 ↗ meeting Community need

45:28 ↗ and pause me if any of you have

45:30 ↗ questions please uh sticking on our our

45:33 ↗ programming side and our Recreation side

45:35 ↗ as we're looking at summer July 4th

45:37 ↗ before we know it that's going to be

45:39 ↗ coming upon us um I may have highlighted

45:42 ↗ this during our budget um a budget

45:44 ↗ update to you all um during the winter

45:47 ↗ but with the budget reductions we are

45:49 ↗ not resource the same as we were last

45:52 ↗ year and so July 4th 2025 is going to

45:55 ↗ have to look different than what we did

45:58 ↗ last year uh you might remember if any

46:00 ↗ of you came uh we had just a great um

46:03 ↗ turn turn to Community Center along do a

46:06 ↗ big field of fun with a ton of

46:08 ↗ activities and thousands of people came

46:10 ↗ it was a great great event uh this

46:12 ↗ year's event is not going to be able to

46:13 ↗ look like that we just do not have the

46:15 ↗ the finances to be able to pull that off

46:18 ↗ uh what we're planning now for July 4th

46:20 ↗ 2025 is a still do the parade um work

46:24 ↗ with um executive office and other

46:27 ↗ departments uh to have the S of kids and

46:29 ↗ pets parade down Front Street and that

46:32 ↗ would then um um terminate at our Front

46:36 ↗ Street Park Properties with a community

46:38 ↗ picnic uh where we will look at getting

46:42 ↗ some food trucks and other food vendors

46:44 ↗ invite people to bring their own picnic

46:46 ↗ and and food and culminate the uh the

46:50 ↗ parade with a a community picnic there

46:52 ↗ at our Front Street uh properties um so

46:56 ↗ a little bit smaller event but hopefully

46:58 ↗ one that's just as Community focused and

47:00 ↗ just as Community fun

47:03 ↗ um do you know um who in the room might

47:06 ↗ know what 2026 July 4th is going to

47:09 ↗ represent for this country do anyone

47:13 ↗ well I wasn't the only one around in

47:15 ↗ 1976 but um 1976 was our 200th the

47:20 ↗ bicentennial this will be the just going

47:22 ↗ to say the 250th it's the semi quent

47:26 ↗ tennial

47:27 ↗ something along those lines it's really

47:29 ↗ it's not nearly as elegant to say as by

47:31 ↗ some so there's a lot of planning that's

47:33 ↗ beginning to happen um around towns

47:37 ↗ around the country around what is two

47:39 ↗ the 250th look like um knowing that

47:42 ↗ we're making this change in in

47:44 ↗ 2025 um the mayor's asked and has

47:47 ↗ created and is in the midst of is is

47:50 ↗ accepting applications for a July 4th

47:53 ↗ community group uh commissioned to be

47:55 ↗ really begin taking a look at 2026 and

47:58 ↗ Beyond what does isig want um it's 250th

48:02 ↗ to to look like um and really allow a

48:06 ↗ lot of that Community engagement and

48:07 ↗ Community work uh to help Define maybe

48:10 ↗ what not only 2026 July 4th looks like

48:13 ↗ but what does it look like moving

48:15 ↗ forward um here in isqua but really let

48:17 ↗ that be a

48:19 ↗ community-based um conversation um some

48:22 ↗ of you many of you may know July 4th was

48:24 ↗ really not a program that the city ever

48:27 ↗ directly did for decades that was done

48:30 ↗ by chamber and other other nonprofit

48:32 ↗ groups and it really wasn't until these

48:34 ↗ last couple years uh the city began to

48:37 ↗ play a more direct role don't mind

48:39 ↗ playing a more direct role but um

48:41 ↗ obviously always need to look at

48:43 ↗ resource allocation and whatnot so um

48:46 ↗ 2025 will go off and and look a little

48:49 ↗ smaller 2026 planning will be underway

48:53 ↗ here in the coming months so if you know

48:56 ↗ of anyone who might be interested and

48:58 ↗ really has a has a passion for the 4th

49:00 ↗ of July or or interest and what that

49:02 ↗ would look like please please um spread

49:04 ↗ the word I'll let that commission is

49:07 ↗ being

49:11 ↗ for no questions I will keep going um

49:15 ↗ why don't we jump to project

49:18 ↗ updates so you've gotten updates um our

49:22 ↗ fearless Park planning and development

49:24 ↗ manager here Robin spear has been doing

49:26 ↗ amazing job um any of you that ever have

49:29 ↗ done a capital project know U it is

49:32 ↗ really complex work uh when it comes to

49:35 ↗ working with a contractor to handling

49:39 ↗ everything from contract questions and

49:42 ↗ chain change orders to invoicing and

49:44 ↗ billing and all of that and Rob you've

49:46 ↗ just done an amazing job with both of

49:49 ↗ these projects um and a pretty rare to

49:51 ↗ be under construction with one Park

49:54 ↗ planner and two capital projects

49:56 ↗ happening but I'm happy to give some

49:58 ↗ updates on some great progress that's

50:00 ↗ happened Hill C Park is now open uh we

50:04 ↗ it's been calling it a soft open and

50:06 ↗ that we're not waiting for a ribbon

50:08 ↗ cutting um few photos here that really

50:11 ↗ highlight the play area um be interested

50:15 ↗ to hear it sounds like a couple of you

50:17 ↗ or spouses or friends have been scouting

50:19 ↗ it out so would love to hear the

50:20 ↗ feedback you've heard we've certainly

50:22 ↗ gotten a lot of very positive feedback

50:25 ↗ from Neighbors and others um if you go

50:28 ↗ up there the hillside you'll see the

50:30 ↗ Trails um and picnic areas general areas

50:32 ↗ are now open areas open we're keeping a

50:36 ↗ a big chunk of the lawn fenced for the

50:39 ↗ coming months just to allow that grass

50:41 ↗ to get a Little Bit Stronger um you want

50:45 ↗ to go through a couple of these photos s

50:47 ↗ there's a couple more shots of the play

50:50 ↗ area Robin please add any thoughts or

50:53 ↗ comments you have but um

50:56 ↗ I love the play area really turned out

50:58 ↗ really nicely beautiful benches very

51:01 ↗ large wood benches that were custom made

51:03 ↗ for the park um this is a earthscape

51:06 ↗ playground which came out of Canada so

51:09 ↗ that's why we're a little delayed

51:10 ↗ opening just because waiting for that to

51:12 ↗ be custom built and delivered uh but

51:15 ↗ everything went really well contractor

51:17 ↗ was really great we do have new planting

51:20 ↗ so if you could kind of avoid that area

51:23 ↗ where you see the new plants just until

51:25 ↗ they grow a little bit larger that would

51:26 ↗ be great but no the field looks really

51:28 ↗ good The Field's draining really well

51:30 ↗ our dissipation area is working I love

51:33 ↗ the path the path is a really nice kind

51:36 ↗ of um feature where where the playground

51:39 ↗ is a little bit hidden so that's not the

51:41 ↗ first thing you see which is kind of

51:43 ↗ ties into the the theme of the original

51:46 ↗ Park that was we really liked yeah

51:49 ↗ that's really tucked back in so you

51:50 ↗ don't that's not the first thing that

51:52 ↗ you notice but yeah we did fence around

51:55 ↗ the area where they were pulling in the

51:57 ↗ equipment back and forth so they did

51:59 ↗ Reed that we just need to give that a

52:01 ↗ little bit more time to grow yeah and

52:03 ↗ the nature trail looks really well

52:05 ↗ everything just slowed really nicely out

52:07 ↗ there so it's a fun part share this the

52:10 ↗ fun work you did with the Girl Scout

52:12 ↗ this was a really unique thing where the

52:14 ↗ girl scout troop actually contacted me

52:16 ↗ and wanted to do um a little Library so

52:20 ↗ they actually did a presentation they

52:22 ↗ did drawings they came up with themes uh

52:26 ↗ we went kind of through the whole design

52:28 ↗ process of what we would typically do on

52:30 ↗ a very light level for for a park so it

52:32 ↗ was really cool to see them engage and

52:35 ↗ get into that and that was their ribbon

52:36 ↗ cutting last week so they filled the

52:39 ↗ library and there's also a geocache in

52:41 ↗ there so which is going to be on our

52:44 ↗ sustainability tour too so there a great

52:47 ↗ example of what a neighborhood park

52:49 ↗ should be right this is a this is a

52:51 ↗ walk-in neighborhood park we really want

52:53 ↗ the the the neighborhood surrounding um

52:56 ↗ Hillside Park to really feel like this

52:58 ↗ is their their park and so I'm so glad

53:02 ↗ you did that Robin and F walking through

53:04 ↗ the design process yeah your perring

53:06 ↗ process wasn't nearly as

53:10 ↗ intense I just got a

53:14 ↗ cross it was fun they did a great job

53:17 ↗ add a really Personal Touch to the par

53:19 ↗ yeah yeah and as Robin said the field

53:22 ↗ itself is um performing as we wanted it

53:25 ↗ to uh you remember we relocated the

53:27 ↗ Wetland so another part of this project

53:29 ↗ we don't have signs for or pictures of

53:31 ↗ it I'm happy to give that um to you

53:34 ↗ later um the the new Wetland that's been

53:37 ↗ created down on uh one of the the on the

53:41 ↗ is Creek Corridor uh at Park point on

53:44 ↗ the lower portion of Park point is done

53:46 ↗ and Performing really really well so um

53:50 ↗ look for early May we're going to have a

53:53 ↗ a ribbon cutting and a party a

53:54 ↗ neighborhood party the neighborhoods

53:56 ↗ really really excited to to co-host us

53:58 ↗ with with that um uh once we get date uh

54:03 ↗ confirmed we'll make sure that you all

54:05 ↗ are there and invited for what's going

54:07 ↗ to be a fun fun

54:09 ↗ celebration I think oh actually we have

54:12 ↗ oh go ahead

54:16 ↗ Tim yeah as somebody that's been down

54:18 ↗ there a couple times I just wanted to

54:20 ↗ you know complement the work that's been

54:21 ↗ done it's very it's a beautiful job um

54:26 ↗ and draining is going quite well um so I

54:31 ↗ have one question which is there's one

54:33 ↗ picnic table on gravel and two on grass

54:37 ↗ is the one on gravel meant to be

54:39 ↗ handicap accessible and the other two

54:41 ↗ are in the grass because they're just

54:43 ↗ they're considered not handicap

54:45 ↗ accessible I just wondered what the

54:46 ↗ thinking was there with the

54:49 ↗ differential yes you're you're correct

54:51 ↗ the one on the pathway is Ada accessible

54:55 ↗ um you'll see at the end there is a a

54:57 ↗ portion that doesn't have a bench so

54:59 ↗ that's intended for a wheelchair to

55:01 ↗ scoot under there okay that's great

55:04 ↗ that's that's what I thought I just

55:05 ↗ wanted to confirm it so I have one

55:08 ↗ comment about something that I'm already

55:10 ↗ starting to see which is when you walk

55:13 ↗ into the park if you're going to the

55:16 ↗ playground the the the path very nicely

55:20 ↗ takes you down winds down to the

55:22 ↗ playground but people go to the park

55:26 ↗ that aren't going to the

55:27 ↗ playground and there's already you know

55:31 ↗ foot traffic you can see like cutting

55:32 ↗ around to the left side of the baseball

55:34 ↗ diamond or you know cutting over to the

55:37 ↗ trail that goes down

55:39 ↗ squawk

55:40 ↗ um and I know that there was

55:44 ↗ some so I'm just wondering if you what

55:46 ↗ kind of thought process we might have to

55:48 ↗ have about accommodating people that are

55:50 ↗ just going to take the shortest point

55:51 ↗ between two distances especially like I

55:53 ↗ said not everybody that goes to the park

55:55 ↗ is going to go to the playground

55:57 ↗ and the second piece I wanted to ask

55:59 ↗ about which is to elaborate a little bit

56:01 ↗ more about the back Bowl area that was

56:05 ↗ part of the original scope of work but

56:07 ↗ got uh I guess pushed back for a later

56:10 ↗ date uh is are there timelines thoughts

56:14 ↗ you know is that a hope it happens it's

56:18 ↗ going to happen um where where does that

56:21 ↗ stand yeah I I'll I'll handle those Tim

56:24 ↗ great questions the the Trail itself

56:27 ↗ you're right the the Ada trail that you

56:30 ↗ see Meandering down to the play area is

56:33 ↗ not meant to be the only prescribed

56:35 ↗ route to get through the park it was

56:38 ↗ really intended one to to formalize an

56:40 ↗ ADA route down to this new play area um

56:45 ↗ but you know we hope that um some of

56:48 ↗ those existing historical Pathways and

56:51 ↗ just walking through the cedar Forest to

56:54 ↗ get to the field that is still something

56:55 ↗ that will be encouraged um as just

56:58 ↗ general General Park use so yes you do

57:02 ↗ see this new formalized Trail but it's

57:04 ↗ not meant to be the only way to handle

57:07 ↗ foot traffic um so we're we're expecting

57:11 ↗ to see those sort of multiple uses and

57:14 ↗ Pathways to get um to get to the

57:19 ↗ field in terms of the the portion of the

57:23 ↗ project the sort of stairway the Little

57:26 ↗ Bull area the community Gathering space

57:30 ↗ um on that you see just talking

57:34 ↗ directionally or the that be

57:37 ↗ the would be just north of the play area

57:41 ↗ here so if you're at the play area that

57:42 ↗ top photo if you recall if you were to

57:46 ↗ keep going north kind of where Robin has

57:49 ↗ the the pointer there there was going to

57:51 ↗ be a seating area there in that wooded

57:53 ↗ area um you're absolutely right Tim that

57:55 ↗ was as we open bids you remember we

57:59 ↗ needed to go to City Council and asked

58:00 ↗ for additional funding to do this we

58:03 ↗ also created bid alternates because we

58:05 ↗ had hunch it was going to be over budget

58:07 ↗ so we um had to had to get some

58:10 ↗ additional money but we didn't have

58:11 ↗ enough additional money to do all of

58:13 ↗ those bid alternates so that portion of

58:15 ↗ the project was a bid alternate that was

58:17 ↗ not awarded or not approved um so yes

58:21 ↗ would need to be done at a different

58:23 ↗ date um we do not have um a defined

58:27 ↗ budget uh specifically for that project

58:30 ↗ our thought has been as we're going to

58:32 ↗ be doing community work and community

58:34 ↗ outreach on the loop trail portion of

58:38 ↗ this project if you remember the loop

58:39 ↗ trail sort of taking a look at entirety

58:41 ↗ of the park the 40 acres creating a loop

58:44 ↗ trail that we would take a look at that

58:47 ↗ um sort of design and see how we might

58:50 ↗ incorporate that into one of the phases

58:53 ↗ uh for the the loop trail in future

58:55 ↗ years so it's not that that work um is

58:58 ↗ not lost uh it's just something we'll

59:00 ↗ try and incorporate into some future

59:04 ↗ work okay thank

59:09 ↗ you all

59:11 ↗ right see no other Hillside questions um

59:16 ↗ real quickly our plazas project plural

59:19 ↗ the the plazas uh here's a photo of how

59:22 ↗ the senior center entry is really

59:24 ↗ beginning to take shape and and really

59:27 ↗ in many ways it's become very

59:29 ↗ redefined um the shelter area is up um

59:33 ↗ as you see um please go down if you if

59:36 ↗ you have some time to take a look uh you

59:38 ↗ remember some of the work we did with

59:40 ↗ our veterans um and making sure that

59:42 ↗ that Memorial is not only preserved but

59:44 ↗ really given more prominence so now it

59:48 ↗ is going to be as you see in that

59:50 ↗ planting area but a whole lot easier for

59:54 ↗ um community members to get up next to

59:56 ↗ actually actually

59:57 ↗ read forward to seeing how the veterans

1:00:01 ↗ are responding to that to that work um

1:00:05 ↗ the plaz is also really beginning to

1:00:07 ↗ take shape you can't see it out of this

1:00:08 ↗ picture but to

1:00:10 ↗ the that be the east side of the the

1:00:13 ↗ senior center uh the boxing ball court

1:00:15 ↗ and some of the the play area is coming

1:00:18 ↗ together over there as

1:00:20 ↗ well next

1:00:23 ↗ slide over on The Pedestrian park side

1:00:25 ↗ and tons of activity happening there uh

1:00:28 ↗ with a vault that was that was built

1:00:32 ↗ nearly or getting close to complete lots

1:00:34 ↗ of concrete work that's been

1:00:37 ↗ happening again I'll I'll turn it over

1:00:39 ↗ to you Robin if you've got any

1:00:41 ↗ additional work but again just kudos to

1:00:43 ↗ you um any Capital project is complex

1:00:46 ↗ when you do it in such a relatively

1:00:49 ↗ tight urban area it becomes that much

1:00:52 ↗ more um that much more complex um it is

1:00:55 ↗ looking like with the contractor that

1:00:57 ↗ the senior center area will be opening a

1:01:00 ↗ little bit earlier um we had thought

1:01:03 ↗ about holding off and opening these all

1:01:05 ↗ together but we think there may be

1:01:07 ↗ opportunity to to open up a big portion

1:01:10 ↗ of the senior center area while The

1:01:12 ↗ Pedestrian Park area is still getting

1:01:15 ↗ wrapped up anything else to add you'll

1:01:18 ↗ you'll just see a little bit more

1:01:20 ↗ congestion at the head Park area we are

1:01:22 ↗ going to start uh we have a final core

1:01:25 ↗ for the lid on the Vault the vault's

1:01:27 ↗ going to hold all the mechanical

1:01:28 ↗ equipment for the water feature so

1:01:30 ↗ that's one key piece they need to finish

1:01:32 ↗ now so they can actually drive over it

1:01:34 ↗ and start um on the other planter areas

1:01:38 ↗ but um it's going to get a little tight

1:01:39 ↗ in that corner yeah concrete comes

1:01:41 ↗ tomorrow for the lid so we're excited to

1:01:43 ↗ get that done um and after that storm

1:01:46 ↗ drain is already in sewer is already in

1:01:49 ↗ so they're going to finish up um the

1:01:51 ↗ water line connection I think by within

1:01:53 ↗ a couple weeks uh then you'll the

1:01:56 ↗ planter start coming to life so they're

1:01:58 ↗ moving as fast as they can WEA permitted

1:02:01 ↗ but um they're really kind of ahead of

1:02:03 ↗ schedule on the senior center um and

1:02:05 ↗ they're staying on schedule for pit Park

1:02:07 ↗ so this is

1:02:10 ↗ exciting any questions can you just

1:02:12 ↗ remind us you know roughly what the

1:02:15 ↗ anticipated opening dates are for this

1:02:18 ↗ uh Senior Center looks like the soft

1:02:20 ↗ opening could be early May uh they're

1:02:22 ↗ trying to shoot for late April but um

1:02:25 ↗ depends on when the storm water grates

1:02:28 ↗ come we heard those are coming earlier

1:02:29 ↗ than we thought so that's great um we're

1:02:33 ↗ head Parks really dependent on the water

1:02:35 ↗ feature which they're starting to

1:02:37 ↗ manufacture or fabricate the first piece

1:02:40 ↗ of it so we think by July you know maybe

1:02:45 ↗ maybe early August p park will be open

1:02:48 ↗ so still opening opening it in the song

1:02:51 ↗ lot of feature would be the last piece

1:02:52 ↗ they Dro in so

1:02:58 ↗ any other

1:03:02 ↗ questions Robins had a great job of

1:03:04 ↗ working with the restaurants and the

1:03:06 ↗ other Front Street businesses to again

1:03:09 ↗ do everything we can to mitigate impacts

1:03:12 ↗ during construction so those are our

1:03:15 ↗ projects here's a a little closing shot

1:03:18 ↗ of the new trail walking trail um along

1:03:22 ↗ the sort of the buffer edge of upper

1:03:24 ↗ Hillside Cemetery it's really beginning

1:03:26 ↗ to come in nicely and

1:03:28 ↗ looks it's like a

1:03:30 ↗ natural yeah for floor

1:03:34 ↗ Trail the last item I had thank you for

1:03:37 ↗ for letting me have this along

1:03:39 ↗ with lots lots happening this a bit of a

1:03:43 ↗ reminder um the April 28th Park board

1:03:47 ↗ meeting is going to be a joint meeting

1:03:48 ↗ with the Arts commission um exciting

1:03:51 ↗ work to unveil there and really get your

1:03:53 ↗ feedback and the Arts commission's

1:03:54 ↗ feedback you might recall one of the

1:03:57 ↗ projects we identified um smaller

1:04:00 ↗ projects we identified but pretty

1:04:01 ↗ impactful is a um sort of a safety and

1:04:05 ↗ art installation at what we're calling

1:04:07 ↗ the three Trails Crossing so Gilman

1:04:10 ↗ where East Lake samis Trail reer Trail

1:04:12 ↗ meet and where the Juniper Trail come um

1:04:15 ↗ we're going to have some uh We've hired

1:04:18 ↗ an artist to S of give some renderings

1:04:20 ↗ of what that art could look like and so

1:04:23 ↗ really look forward to I'm not going to

1:04:24 ↗ be able to be at that meeting but Robin

1:04:27 ↗ and Emy will um certainly lead that

1:04:30 ↗ discussion and that effort and look

1:04:31 ↗ forward to getting your feedback and

1:04:33 ↗ helping really inform what um what um

1:04:39 ↗ design sort of makes the most sense and

1:04:41 ↗ what we move forward to also at the

1:04:42 ↗ April 28th meeting uh you're going to

1:04:44 ↗ get an update on our six-year Capital

1:04:46 ↗ Improvement plan so the six-year

1:04:49 ↗ CIP if you recall um is updated every

1:04:52 ↗ two years um all of your great work

1:04:56 ↗ through the park system Plan update um

1:04:58 ↗ all the community outreach we did with

1:04:59 ↗ the park system plan if you recall when

1:05:01 ↗ we prioritized those capital projects we

1:05:03 ↗ put them in near-term midterm and

1:05:05 ↗ long-term buckets Robin and I and Rick

1:05:08 ↗ are now in the midst and HTI are in the

1:05:10 ↗ midst of um taking those near-term

1:05:13 ↗ recommendations and um informing that

1:05:16 ↗ six-year Capital Improvement plan um

1:05:20 ↗ Robin I'll have a chance to come and

1:05:21 ↗ give you an update on that get your

1:05:23 ↗ feedback on that CIP as that will later

1:05:26 ↗ be going to City Council in May and June

1:05:29 ↗ for their final blessing so look forward

1:05:32 ↗ to running that by you and make sure

1:05:34 ↗ we're squared up and um consistent with

1:05:37 ↗ what those priorities were coming out of

1:05:39 ↗ the the park system

1:05:41 ↗ plan so lots going on thank you for that

1:05:46 ↗ g me that time for that update those

1:05:52 ↗ updates question that's it

1:05:56 ↗ I keep

1:06:00 ↗ going it's an impressive

1:06:03 ↗ skill all right thank you then with that

1:06:07 ↗ uh I don't think we have any youth

1:06:09 ↗ Representatives not tonight tonight just

1:06:12 ↗ love their

1:06:14 ↗ participation um I don't have a full

1:06:16 ↗ report my report is uh if you notice at

1:06:19 ↗ the end of the agenda packet on the very

1:06:24 ↗ last page at the top there's the

1:06:25 ↗ Heritage tree program up tap be coming

1:06:28 ↗ at the end of the year and I started

1:06:31 ↗ thinking about this I sent an email

1:06:34 ↗ because there have been some public

1:06:35 ↗ comment about it I would like to just

1:06:38 ↗ ask you all to um look at the uh what

1:06:44 ↗ what we are uh tasked doing relative to

1:06:48 ↗ that part Bo is Task with doing and um

1:06:53 ↗ think about the role you think Authority

1:06:56 ↗ should

1:06:58 ↗ have uh it's a complicated issue and

1:07:01 ↗ it's maybe bigger

1:07:03 ↗ than could be made bigger than it seems

1:07:06 ↗ so I'm putting that out there we have

1:07:08 ↗ many months but when it does come up I

1:07:10 ↗ think it's going to move fast and

1:07:12 ↗ they'll be some decisions

1:07:14 ↗ made great CRA that's

1:07:19 ↗ it and I

1:07:22 ↗ think all um if we have any other

1:07:25 ↗ business

1:07:29 ↗ anyone so started six minutes late and

1:07:33 ↗ in 46 minutes

1:07:35 ↗ early it's a record remember this

1:07:38 ↗ remember this

1:07:40 ↗ day and with that meeting ised thank you

1:07:44 ↗ thanks

1:07:45 ↗ all night

1:07:50 ↗ Tim good night folks

Approved minutes

The minutes PDF below is the canonical record. Structured parsing of attendance and motions for this body's minutes format is not yet implemented — open the PDF for the full content.

Open PDF