SK Parks: Now What?

After more than a year of formal — sometimes testy — negotiations, the South Kitsap Parks & Recreation Board of Commissioners on April 12 agreed to turn South Kitsap Community Park over the Kitsap County. The agreement is to be finalized within the next month.
Now what?
The county’s first order of business, according to South Kitsap Commissioner Jan Angel, will be a little housekeeping. The four-member parks board, which has struggled with financing, was unable to keep up with routine maintenance.
“We can get in there and clean up the park, and clean up some of the fields so they can be used by summer,” Angel said.
Beyond that, there will be a “public process” to determine what citizens want. Angel will meet with Chip Faver, the county’s director of Facilities, Parks & Recreation, to establish the process for making sure everyone has their say.
The park has its impassioned advocates, including a group called Supporters of the Chuck F. Jeu Family Recreation Center, some members of whom had hoped to see the park stay independent. They will be welcome to the table, said Angel, but she also wants to hear from other citizens, and she has a few ideas of her own, such as an environmental learning center.
Angel said is pleased with the parks board’s decision.
“I’m very happy with this,” she said. “It’s a win-win for everybody.”
Larry Walker, chairman of the parks board, is satisfied, too.
“I feel a lot better,” he said. “I’m glad we’re finally moving forward with this.
“What I’d like to see now is we’re moving the confrontational viewpoints aside. Everyone will be in the same traces, and we’ll move forward to build this park.”