City Council Committee Agendas

Finance and Parks & Enrichment Services Committee September 27, 2023 6:00 P.M. 1. Approval of meeting minutes from August 23, 2023. 2. Parks & Enrichment Services – Jennifer Berner a. RCO Deferred Maintenance Grant i. Parks applied for a Deferred Maintenance Grant through the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office. ii. No Match is required – Grant Limit $100,000 iii. 215 Grants were submitted, There was 5 Million budgeted and 19 Million being requested by the grant submittals. Very competitive grant. b. 100 Year Celebration for Hillcrest Park i. Park was established March 1924 and will be 100 years old March 2024 ii. Staff is working with a citizen-based committee to plan a celebration for the community. iii. Ideas include a giant timeline reflecting all the changes that have occurred in the park over the past 100 years, gathering photos from over the years, capturing stories of what Hillcrest Park has meant to the community over the years. c. Hillcrest Parks Soccer Field Update i. Water meter has been installed ii. Staff is lining out the irrigation, leveling the field, installing irrigation, adding topsoil, and then hydroseeding iii. Final step will be adding fencing and replanting trees 1. Trees will be replanted in late Fall or early next Spring d. Parks Update i. Graffiti, Vandalism, illegal Dumping increased through the summer. Over 200 staff hours have been dedicated to just removing graffiti ii. Park Safety is very important. New Park hours signs have been posted in all the parks, Park Rules Signs are in the process of being installed at all the parks and Staff cleaned up the Milwaukee Street public parking lot for better visibility. iii. Tree and Trails – Parks crew are responsible for inspecting and pruning 343 street trees in addition to all the trees within the city parks and maintaining over 24 miles of trails. 1. Tree work includes pruning, maintaining tree health, risk assessment, and emergency response. iv. Riverwalk Beautification this past summer included updating the planter beds, sanding and refinishing the handrail along the Riverwalk, and hanging and watering the flower baskets along 1st Street and the Riverwalk  v. Facility Maintenance work included installation of insulation in the crawl space for the Vaux House, Playground Repairs, and troubleshooting HVAC, plumbing and electrical issues. vi. Hillcrest Lodge is receiving some updates including repair of structural poles, floors resurfaced, new hot water system, new furnace and ducting, upgrade to lighting install new windows and refurbish the main door. e. PROS Plan Update i. Last public survey is out to the community and 548 responses have been collected as of today. It will remain open for another 2 weeks. ii. Preliminary Survey Results showing: 1. Getting good representation across all three wards 2. Playground and Play Areas are important 88% in support of developing/maintaining playgrounds and play areas. 3. Development of an On and Off Road Non-Motorized Trails Network is important with 89% rating this Moderate/High/Highest 4. In general residents rated the location of parks, quantity, and quality of parks in the moderate category. 5. The results will be presented to Council next month. f. Fall and Winter Recreation Programming i. Fall and Winter Brochure has been distributed and registration are coming in for the classes ii. Staff is connecting with our homeschool population and designing classes that meet their needs and times. iii. Volunteer Appreciation event will take place in November iv. Veterans Day event will consist of a food drive for veterans and a service project, helping a local veteran with yard work. v. Illuminight Event, January 26 – Recreation staff is taking a lead role in coordinating the event logistics. 3. Miscellaneous/For the good of the order