Council approves parks plan
June 24, 2008
By Emily Keller
The City Council approved a six-year parks plan for 21 projects that would cost $17.5 million to complete.
The plan calls for a $2 million restoration and expansion of the Beaver Lake Preserve, $7.5 million for Beaver Lake Park athletic fields, $3 million for future land acquisition and $1.5 million for a synthetic baseball, soccer and lacrosse field at Eastlake High School. There are also projects planned for the Evans Creek Preserve, Sammamish Landing and a plateau trail on Southeast 43rd Way.
The city is required to create and update a Capital Improvement Plan in order to collect park impact fees and grant funds. The plan guides project development from 2009 to 2014, although funding comes separately through the city’s budget process.
The council approved the updated plan at its June 17 meeting.
The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation may also ask residents to contribute to parks development, and is in the process of collecting survey results to see if Sammamish residents would support a parks bond on the November ballot. Director Jessi Richardson said the department expects to present the results of the survey at the council’s next meeting July 1.
In May, the department had been considering a $42 million bond that would include partial funding for a joint community facility with the YMCA that planners said would have an aquatic center, and a smaller $17 million bond without it. The YMCA has since voted against that plan.
The deadline for council to approve a parks bond for the Nov. 4 ballot is July 15.
According to a recent community survey of nearly 400 city residents conducted by phone in April, 78.4 percent of respondents said the city’s parks and recreation facilities and programs are good or excellent and 8.2 percent said they are poor or very poor.
Just over one-fifth of respondents said the most important recreation activity or program the city needs is an aquatic center or community pool, according to the survey conducted by Herbert Research. Residents also asked for soccer fields, baseball fields and a youth and teen center for after-school activities.
Asked what kind of athletic fields and active recreation facilities the city’s youth need most, respondents listed soccer fields, baseball fields, a pool, a skate park, parks, tennis courts and trails, in descending order. The city opened a skate park at City Hall in December 2006.
Reporter Emily Keller can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or ekeller@isspress.com.
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