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

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (11)

Chris Kovac

Marlene Waxse

Katie Bell

Andrew Eliquen

Nicholas Lee

David Liu

Tim Motley

Ryan Olson

Mari Stevens

Paul Adair

Martha Ginthner

Staff (2)

Hasanthi Piyasena, Department Operations

Specialist, Parks & Community Services