It’s official. The Kitsap County Board of Commissioners has
accepted South Kitsap Parks District Board of Commissioners’
counter-proposal, which cements the transfer of South Kitsap
Community Park to the county.
According to Commissioner Jan Angel, the park’s future is a blank
slate. All we know is that the county has committed $2.19 milllion
for improvements to the park ever the next six years. The next step
is a “public process,” said Angel, in which all comers are welcome.
In an upcoming article, I will report on what stakeholders in the
park’s future have to say. I’m also hoping to hear from others who
may have ideas about what they’d like to see at South Kitsap
Community Park. It will be interesting to see how those in opposing
camps work to bury the hatchet as they move forward toward what
seems to be everybody’s goal: a viable, vibrant park (see parks
commissioner Margie Rees’ comments below).
So blog on or e-mail me at chenry@kitsapsun.com. Thanks.
Here’s how one chapter in the parks 30+ year history ended.
The Kitsap County Board of Commissioners has given official
approval to an agreement that will transfer ownership of South
Kitsap Community Park from the South Kitsap Parks District Board of
Directors to the county.
The agreement, signed with little fanfare by commissioners Jan
Angel, Josh Brown and Chris Endresen on Monday, represents the
settlement of a lawsuit by the county against the parks district
for unpaid election debt. The settlement excuses the debt, which at
one time was more than $30,000. The parks district had been paying
it off over time and made a $20,000 payment on the debt in
February, using money from an insurance claim settlement resulting
from a mobile home fire at the park in August.
The agreement ensures the preservation of the 200-acre park as a
park. Any other use for the land would have to be approved by
voters.
Before Angel signed the document, she spoke directly to parks
commissioner Margie Rees, who attended the commissioners’ meeting.
Rees strongly opposed the turnover during the year of negotiations
with the county. She was the lone “no” vote on the settlement, but
she was overridden by commissioners Ron Flerx and Warren
Collver.
“I was happy to see Margie Rees in the audience,” Angel said,
citing the agreement’s wording as proof of the county’s good will.
“I want to reassure especially Margie that ‘the county will
restrict the use of said land to parkland and recreation in
perpetuity.’”
After the meeting, Rees, asked whether she had confidence in
Angel’s pledge, said, “Who knows. I hope I can work with the county
to make it a better place.”
Rees has served on the board for four years. She and others in a
group called Supporters of the Chuck F. Jeu Family Recreation
Center hope to create a community-supported, nonprofit recreation
center at the park.
At the meeting, Jan Angel floated her own idea for an environmental
learning center at the park in cooperation with Karcher Creek Sewer
District and the Annapolis Water District.
The parks board made their decision based upon what they understood to be the best option for the community. The County has a lot people looking to see if they have the same concern in mind, especially in the face of the new budget cuts and downsizing mandates that they face.
I think this is the most opportune time for the residents of South Kitsap to step up and support the park in a fashion much greater than they have previously. Now is the time for all interested groups and organizations to put together volunteer groups to help the County restore and maintain the park as we work with committees to the County for future park use. Rather than expending energy on bashing one another on blogs, arguments and forums we should be out side by side with rake, shovel and garbage bag in hand taking care of what is all of ours.