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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 2002 - MinutesJEFFERSON COUNTY PARKS & RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES WEDNESDAY, DULY 10, 2002 I. OPENING BUSINESS Chair Mike Ryan called the meeting to order at 12:05 p.m. in the Main Floor Conference Room of the Jefferson County Courthouse, Port Townsend, Washington. Members Present: Mike Ryan (Chair), Randy Kline, Brian Miller (Vice Chair), Rick Tollefson, David Whipple Members Absent: Eileen Rogers, Frank Trafton, Jr. Staff Present: Warren Steurer, Tim Black, and Nik Worden of Public Works Guests: Monica Mick -Hager and Commissioner Titterness Quorum: There was a quorum. Minutes: David Whipple moved that the approval of June meeting minutes be tabled until the next meeting. The motion was seconded and approved by unanimous vote. II. OLD BUSINESS A. Parks Board. Mike Ryan and Brian Miller were recently reappointed to the Board. Although the desire is to have three representatives in each district, redistricting has left District 2 with four representatives until the expiration of their terms. Districts 1 and 3 each have one open position, which will again be advertised. It was suggested that the District 3 position be advertised in both the Port Ludlow Village Voice and the Walker Mountain News. B. Larry Scott Trail. Trail signs are being fabricated and bids are being accepted for fencing. A grand opening of Segment 2 is planned for August 24. In response to the suggestion that a flyer be produced showing how kids can use the trail to get safely to and from schools, Nik agreed to share the idea with the City's Non -Motorized Transportation Committee, who would then need to involve schools and the Port in discussions. Staff is hopeful that there will be a safe route from Cape George to SR20 by next year. C. Chimacum Creek/lrondale Beach: The BOCC authorized an initial offer on the Chimacum Creek property. D. H.J. Carroll Park: Linda Landcammer and volunteers have been working on the Wild Olympic Salmon garden area near the picnic shelter. The Tri-Area Garden Club is also weeding and performing maintenance. Staff met with Tom Jay about the Salmon Bell installation, which is expected in August. The Jefferson Transit bus stop is working out well. The caretakers are doing a good job and vandalism has not been a problem. There are frequent requests for picnic shelter rentals and many adult softball league games. The BMX track continues to be popular. The asphalt has also been laid for the basketball court. E. CommunityNetwork: The two work groups (Birth-to-3 and Healthy Youth Coalitions) continue to meet regularly. The next Healthy Youth Coalition meeting will include a discussion of a teen education workshop for parents, the purpose of which would be to gain an understanding of today's teenagers. They will be looking for a keynote speaker and possibly a panel of local professionals. F. Gibbs Lake: Staff has been working with its partners — Port Townsend Rotary and WSU -- on the Ropes Challenge Course project. Warren described the 11-station course with high and low elements. The course designer will install the eight low -course stations on July 17-20 G. G. Castle Hill Property: Randy Kline reported that the County recently purchased the portion of the building from the Permit Center to the QFC store. Considering the make-up of the Health Department and Permit Center clientele and residents of nearby low-income housing, he suggested considering improvements to the County -owned vacant lot next to the center to create a small park. While there was support for pursuing this idea and a suggestion that QFC could be a possible partner, Commissioner Titterness noted that this site is being considered as a building site for Public Works. III. STAFF REPORTS A. Managers Report: Staff is very busy with the camping season, which has been good so far. As part of the 2001 parks grants program, the Lake Leland community received funds to erect an historical sign at the park, which will be dedicated on Thursday, July 18. The Port Townsend Rotary will rent Memorial Field for a circus next week. The Rose Theater's outdoor movie is also coming up. B. Recreation: Volunteer David Whipple has been running a sand lot ballgame day camp at Memorial Field, which has had about 20 participants so far. The day camp, for ages 8-13, runs from 9:00-3:00 Monday through Thursday. The covered stands are also used for playing board games. It was suggested that Parks staff send thank you letters to Olympic Art and Office and Swains, who each gave $50 in supplies. After one more week at Memorial Field, the group will move to H.J. Carroll Park. Upcoming recreation programs include basketball, soccer and baseball camps to be followed by a Bob Lytle soccerathon on August 24. To increase Park and Recreation revenues, Staff is planning to utilize Memorial Field for parking during the Wooden Boat Festival. Volunteers would be appreciated. IV. NEW BUSINESS A. Budget: Following up last month's discussion of the Comprehensive Plan and its goals, Warren reported that the County is considering creating three funding spheres 1) law and justice, 2) general government (administration — assessor, auditor, treasurer), and 3) Parks and Recreation, Community Resources — WSU Cooperative Extension. The 2003 budget will again show a minimum level of funding for Parks and Recreation. Staff will be advocating the role of Parks in the community as it considers Department priorities and looks for opportunities to improve revenues. Since it is possible that a funding strategy could involve creating a Parks and Recreation District, Metro District or a levy for services, the 2003 budget would need to support any such effort. Responding to questions about the directives under which we are considering various funding strategies, Commissioner Titterness explained that the budget goals and objectives contained a clear statement about Parks and Recreation moving toward a separate budget. Its funding would gradually be shifted from the general fund to a separate budget over a 5-10 year period. B. Strategies, Tasks, Timelines, etc.: An issue to be considered is whether the City, Port Ludlow, Gardiner, and west county want to get involved with this type of District funding strategy. Warren proposed presenting a strategy for a district — including a timeline, tasks, etc.— to the BOCC in August. He also proposed the PAB hold a work session before the presentation to discuss possible strategies. Mike Ryan suggested having a county that has already been through this process hold a workshop with us. Warren agreed that the County might learn from Bainbridge Island's recent experience. There was PAB agreement about the need for a strategy session to lay out all the components so facts can be communicated to interested parties. For PAB members, it was noted that the Comprehensive Parks and Rec. Plan provides a lot of good information. Warren agreed to begin talking to other counties, pulling information together, and graphing out what a metro or service district might look like. There was support for trying to produce a strategy to the BOCC by October, with the PAB holding one or two special work sessions in September. Rick Tollefson raised the concern about moving forward with a Metropolitan Park District which is that we must first know whether there is political "buy -in" to this different way of doing business. Voters have to be convinced that they are not going to be paying double for the same service. Commissioner Jeff. Co. Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Minutes of July 10, 2002— Page 2 Titterness recognized the preventative role of Parks and Recreation in the overall health of the community, but the BOCC is trying to find a way to keep revenues and expenses moving on parallel tracks. Law and justice costs have been outpacing their source of funding. His opinion is that while the BOCC may be willing to use the banked capacity on capital facilities and other one-time expenses, there are not growing funds to support ongoing Parks services and programs. In response to the concern about achieving public support for a district or levy, Commissioner Titterness said while he agrees that some political capital needs to be put behind parks and recreation, his political capital this year will go into a 0.1% sales tax increase to support law and justice. He added that he sees advantages to making parks non -partisan. David Whipple spoke in favor of continuing to utilize public funding sources for capital facilities, acquisition and maintenance. Warren recognized the many active capital facilities projects and expressed concern about burdening the taxpayer. As the capital improvement plan is fleshed out with acquisition and development and long-term trail improvements as well as new recreational facilities, the picture becomes one the general fund would be unable to support. So it may be necessary to create a levy to make these improvements. Nik Worden felt that capital facilities such as a new park or trail could be supported by voters, but acknowledged the difficulty in selling operations and maintenance. It was noted that the survey provides good information about what citizens would support. Monica Mick -Hager said her role at PAB meetings is to communicate back to City Parks on issues of common interest. The City has not yet considered pursuing a district, but they understand the County may be exploring this option and they want to remain involved. A comment was that it might be easier to present a district to the voters if the City and County were taking the same approach. C. Comprehensive Plan: The plan was presented to BOCC and is being cleaned up before it goes to the Planning Department. The financial strategies will go forth as presented. V. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 1:55 p.m. The next meeting is Wednesday, August 14, 2002. Jeff. Co. Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Minutes of July 10, 2002— Page 3