Parks & Rec Advisory Commission

ANACORTES PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT P.O. BOX 547, ANACORTES, WA 98221 (360) 293-1918 / (360) 293-1928 Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission July 14th, 2026 at 6pm This meeting will be held BOTH virtually and in person at City Hall (904 6th Street) Access to the meeting via Zoom through this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86782645955 Preliminary Agenda 1. Call to Order 2. Approve June Minutes 3. Public Comments 4. Rotary Park Gazebo Replacement Presentation 5. Correspondence/Communication 6. Department Reports 7. Other Business If reasonable accommodation due to a disability are needed, please contact Brandon Krause at least 48 hours prior to the meeting date (360-299-1961). June 9, 2026 Parks Commission in Attendance: JoAnn, Brad, Alex, Brad, Sarah and Chris Staff in Attendance: Jonn, Bob, Dustin, Karl and Darby Call to order: 6:00pm Minutes: May minutes passed unanimously. Public Comments: Jim and Cheryl were in attendance from the Noon Rotary club to speak about upgrading the area of the gazebo at Rotary Park. Now that the lookout project is done, they are looking to improve other areas. They have met with Jonn and Mayor Walters about the gazebo area and shared that it is need of some repair and upgrade. It was built in 1987 and has aged. The Club has also met with Strandberg Construction and gotten a plan and design for a demo of the gazebo and improvement of the space. They have funds leftover from the lookout project and dedicated those for Cap Sante projects only. The next step is to invite the public to come hear about the project and see the plan at the July meeting. The Board expressed support. Correspondence and Communication: JoAnn reported on the June Forest Board meeting that was a hike with the Friends of the ACFL at Heart Lake, no business was conducted. Jonn shared that staff is writing to the Foundation about a way to work with them as well as Strandberg Construction on the W 6th Street Park project. The City has $75,000 in impact fees and are hoping for a donation of $50,000 from the Foundation. This would start on the project with the necessary dirt work, fence, landscaping, path and hopefully pavers. Department Reports: Bob shared that the permitting for the W 6th Street park has started. The skatepark design is almost ready, with the contract with CXT going to Council on June 15th and out to bid in July. The deadline for demo of the existing restroom is September. The Heart Lake project will have a 30% design meeting in two weeks. The seasonal staff is nearly complete with a few more to start soon. The school resource officer will be moving to the parks and ACFL for the summer. The A Avenue landfill consultants will be on site this week doing sampling which will mean some temporary trail closures. Dustin reported that the summer recreation season is kicking off. The fishing event went great with about double the number of participants than last year. Bark in the Park is this Saturday and Kids R Best Fest on July 11th. Eli is starting a new program this summer, a Senior Summer Day Camp in coordination with the Senior Activity Center. Karl shared that is has already been a busy June with many special programs. The Foundation Gala raised funds for the nutrition program, clearing $130,000-140,000. There will be a lunch at the Center showcasing the costumes and an open house on Friday at 6pm for people to come and see them. Upcoming is a summer kick off for all ages at the Center. Karl will be going to Council for a couple of contracts with Skagit County and Skagit Council on Aging. Jonn reported that the funding for 2027 for the nutrition program is unknown at this time as the County does not do their budget until the fall. He also shared that the leak at the spray pad has been fixed. The 4th of July is coming up soon. The Port donated $20,000 to the fireworks in celebration of their 100 year anniversary. The budget is unknown at this time, but all departments will be going to Council for their 2nd quarter reports in July. Jonn met with several pickleball players who want to explore raising funds to build a court. This limiting issue is available land. There was discussion about indoor courts, amenities and location. Other Business: It was decided to meet in July and skip the August meeting. Adjourned at 6:59pm Respectfully submitted by Darby Jordan Parks and Recreation Update: July 2026 Parks Update: Nicole Johnston, Parks Manager: Washington Park -Playground inspection & replaced a few parts on the existing playground. -Graduation and Father’s Day Weekend was a busy weekend and a full boat lot - Hosted the Father’s Network Event at the Group tent site -Starbucks filmed a commercial at Washington Park using the group picnic area and West Beach for the shoot -Campground remains nearly full every weekend -Seasonal Staff is doing a great job -Continue to work the AFC to help find campers sponsored camping at Washington Park. -new hire Grace Hill is the new outreach employee for AFC Ace of Hearts Dog Park- -A memorial picnic table was added in honor of Bill Turner at the dog park on the big side. Thanks to his good friend Mark for organizing the new table for the park. Senior Parade -June 9th the Senior Parade for the class of 2026 was a success! Storvik Park -Bark in the Park event was a success -Playground inspection was completed -Worked with the Water Department to troubleshoot a double check issue feeding water to the Spray Pad. -Working on installing a new activator for the seals, we will get that replaced as soon as possible. -The park has been busy with the field trips and picnic pavilion rentals Irrigation Fixes at -Skatepark -Altair Americus Park -Cemetery -Volunteer Outfield -Still working on fixes at the Police Dept. and the library Volunteer Park -hosted a youth soccer camp on Kiwanis Meadow Field -summer baseball/ softball practices for the Anacortes Little League, Anacortes High School Summer Steamers team -hosted the Anacortes Little League Tournament and a Seattle Baseball Tournament Mowing & Trimming -Guemes Channel Trail , Tommy Thompson & Ship Harbor Trail were trimmed by the parks Crew & seasonal staff Cemetery -We have had a handful of services, lot sales and a few marker installs -Cemetery mower is currently down for a month being repaired, in the meantime we are borrowing the Water Departments Mower Ship Harbor Project Update -Received my feedback and notes from both the ALEA and the WWRP RCO grants. -I have until July 15 to make the edits that are needed, before I resubmit -We have changed the title of the grants to better reflect the scope of the project, per the recommendation of the RCO Grant Manager. The new name of the project is Ship Harbor Boardwalk, Viewpoint and Beach Access Project! -I will spend the next few weeks making changes to my power point presentations and getting ready to do my final presentation on August 24/25. Next up in Parks -Looking to hire two seasonal staff to replace the two that are leaving early for the summer. The job is posted on the city website. -Improve the Altair Americus Park by removing the old tables and repurposing four tables that were donated by the Port of Anacortes. -4th of July , park department is involved in a few different details of this day -Getting ready for the Adult Softball season at Rotary field -Paint the basketball court lines at Storvik Park -Keep the hanging baskets alive! Recreation Report: Dustin South, Recreation Manager, Eli Moore, Recreation Coordinator Youth Volleyball Clinic: From the 1st to 3rd staff coordinated this camp with high school coaches and players to provide a great learning environment for the youth in the community. The camp was held for kids in grades 3rd – 8th and had about 30 participants. Thank you to all the high school players and coaches for helping provide this recreational opportunity. Youth Girls Basketball Clinic: The camp was held for kids in grades 2nd – 8th and had about 25 participants. Thank you to all the high school players and coaches for helping provide this recreational opportunity for basketball players to improve their skills. Bark in the Park: The annual event was held on Saturday, June 13 at Storvik Park. Attendance was about double of 2025. Several dog friendly businesses/organizations provided booths and contests were held for the participants. Zabrina Nybo, from the Police Dept., helped with planning for the event. Also, a very big “Thank You” to City Council Member TJ Fantini for taking on the Master of Ceremonies duties for the event. Seahawk Youth Soccer Camp: High school girls soccer team provided an opportunity for kids in grades K- 5th to hone their soccer skills. Camp was held the week after school let out for the summer. The weather was not ideal the first couple of days but finished with lots of sunshine. There were 100 registered participants, some who were trying soccer for the first time. Each player received a soccer ball as part of their registration fee. Yth Enrichment Camps: These popular themed camps are taking place at WA Park from Monday through Thursday, from 9 am – 12pm and started in June. Activities and games are scheduled around the theme of each week. These are some of our more popular youth camps for the summer. The camps are geared towards kids ages 5-12. Kids Arts & Crafts Camp: Instructor Vickie Corley offered two separate weeks of camps for kids to explore their creative side. Two sessions were offered each week for grades K-3rd and 4th-6th respectively. All four sessions were full, and the participants created several masterpieces. We are looking into offering some classes throughout the school year during early release days. We did this last year, and it was successful. Youth Water Sports Classes: Our continued partnership with Anacortes Waterfront Alliance allowed the city to offer Learn to introductory Water Sports Class to the community. These classes not only gave kids the opportunity to try sailing, but they could learn the basics of Paddle Boarding and kayaking as well. Outside of our program AWA offers further opportunities for youth to continue whichever water vessel they most enjoyed. The main mission of AWA is providing water recreation to the Anacortes Community through a variety of means. Registration numbers have been very strong for all the classes offered this summer. Drop-in Sports: Adult Volleyball takes place at Fidalgo Elementary on Wednesday and Friday evenings. Adult drop-in Basketball takes place on Sunday evenings in the Middle School and Tuesday evenings at Fidalgo Elementary. Pickle Ball is on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday (and Family Pickle Ball Sundays) at Mt. Erie Elementary. To see the latest on the drop-in sports schedule visit: https://www.anacorteswa.gov/971/Drop-In- Programs Other Items of Interest/Upcoming Events: Kids R Best Fest is Saturday, July 11 from 10am – 2pm. Youth Soccer Registration is currently open and the registration deadline is Monday, July 13 for the fall recreational soccer season. Volunteer coaches are needed please contact the recreation team for more info. Total Volunteers Hours for June Drop-in Sports 4 X 16 hrs. = 64 Bark in the Park 2 X 5 hrs. = 10 Youth Track and Field 2 X 6 hrs. = 12 ______________________________ Total for Month 86 Assistant Director Report: Bob Vaux ACFL 5/28 Helped Arborist Steve with a small hazard tree fall for a neighbor on Lake Erie Way. 6/1 Responded to a weekend report of an RV parked at the #312 trailhead. By the time I got there on Monday it had turned into two. I contacted one, gave the usual spiel, and had no response at the second one. Was told that the individual would be on their way soon. When I visited again that afternoon, there was a third RV added to the mix. I exited my vehicle and started making my way toward the three RV’s when the barking from at least 8 dogs, mostly tied up, but not secure enough to my liking, begin to rise in volume. There was no way we were going to have much of a conversation over the canine din, and with the sketchy job of tying the dogs up, I left the scene and called APD. They are working on moving them along. 72 hours later, as per city code, the RV’s were gone. The good news coming from this is that the Parks Director and the Police Chief, via city code, have now imposed No 24-Hour Parking on Heart Lake Road. Parking closes at 10P, just like the ACFL. This is great news and should help us keep campers focused on Washington Park. Pretty nice day so I spent some time at Whistle as well. About 20 vehicles at 230P, with mostly floaties and no coolers. No corrective measures required. 6/4 While there was no regular Forest Advisory Board meeting in June, we did participate in the annual hike with the Friends of the ACFL board and staff. We did some informational work on the Heart Lake Shoreline Restoration Project and had a great evening stroll through the North Heart Lake Unit. Anchor QEA has been on site at the “A” Ave landfill, working on water & soil sampling and drilling deeper sample wells. 6/13-14 Spent much of the weekend on Whistle Lake parking detail. Crowds easily in the hundreds both days, and most folks just looking to cool off in a reasonable manner. Seasonal Will did great work. 6/15 Thank you to the veteran ACFL supporters who handled the rescue of a raven tangled up in fishing line at Whistle Lake. Not only did the bird make it to Salish Wildlife Rescue, but all the appropriate protocol was followed by volunteers as well as staff. The first phone call was made to the Parks Dept. Same day thanks to Nicole, Nichola and Michaela from our Parks staff. They assisted with ACFL visitor compliance on a rather toasty Monday afternoon. Thank you to Brian, Corrin and the rest of the good folks at the Waste Water Treatment Plant. They will once again be handling our summer lakes fecal coliform testing. We do this pretty much weekly through to late Sept. cooling temperatures. 6/17 Welcomed our second ACFL seasonal, Gibson, back to the team. Officer Kellington also began his summer focus on parks and the ACFL today. HEART LAKE SHORELINE RESTORATION PROJECT Continuing to work with contractors and COA staff on design and permitting. 6/23 Held a 30% design meeting with the whole team. Treating storm water proving to be somewhat complicated. We will be presenting/discussing options with our in house storm water staff soon. BEN ROOT SKATE PARK IMPROVEMENT PROJECT PH II Thank you Director Lunsford for stepping into the conversation with LB Foster to get our CXT RR delivery protocol confirmed. We have not been through a process with them like this before. 6/15 Council approved a minor language change in the purchasing contract. W. 6th PARK PROJECT Working with Planning staff on permitting and Legal Dept. on possible private/public partnership options. TREES Helped Planning staff out with some San Juan Passage view pruning. Precision Tree Service did a great job on this plat condition. WASHINGTON PARK 6/12 Provided support to park staff in the absence of Parks Nicole and Steve. We were able to work through a complicated but typical camper unable to pay scenario. Thanks to APD for being ready to assist if needed. APD IN THE PARKS AND WOODS It’s great to have SRO Kellington back in the parks and woods this summer. Parks Nicole and I met with him on the 18th and mapped out some overall strategies for working together.