Parks board forges ahead

The South Kitsap Parks and Recreation Board commissioners are trying to keep the South Kitsap Community Park afloat, though county legal action against the board is still pending.

After a meeting last week with the Karcher Creek Board of Commissioners, Parks Board Chair Larry Walker said several partnerships are in the works.

“They’re looking to put together a dump station at the perimeter area of the park,” Walker said of the Karcher Creek Commissioners. “Basically it would be servicing their commercial properties nearby. They wanted to talk to us about whether we would be interested in partnering with them. We’re also talking about partnering up in both a water reuse plan and possibly a building in the park that would serve as an educational center for Karcher Creek and also a meeting area for the park board.”

Walker said last weekend’s Ghost Train event in the park was a huge success, with 1,350 riders. According to Walker, the public’s wait for a complete and final Master Plan for the park may soon be ending.

“We’re moving forward on the master plan,” Walker reported. “It’s a painful process, but working quite well. We’re hoping for ratification by the end of the year.”

Meanwhile, County Commissioner Jan Angel is still not optimistic about board control of the park.

“It’s all in court and we’re waiting for the court decision,” Angel said. “I sat down with Mark (Mauren, now in charge of the county’s parks), and he’s going to be getting an update from legal to see if there’s anything we can do to move things forward at a faster pace.”

Angel said she’s also working to get a complete history of the origins of the park and how it got to the state it’s now in.

“I don’t think the citizens realize that half of that land is still owned by the county,” Angel said.

Angel is accepting applications from South Kitsap residents interested in applying to be considered for appointment to the Park and Recreation Advisory Board.

The mission of the 12-member advisory committee, which replaced the Open Space Parks and Greenways Committee, is to provide timely advice to the

Facilities Parks and Recreation Director and the county commissioners

regarding the acquisition, development and administration of various

park properties.

The county commissioners may also request the group to

create sub-committees to address specific issues related to park

improvements and recreation programs.

For more information call Jan Koske, Kitsap County Volunteer Services Coordinator, at (360) 337-4650 or jkoske@co.kitsap.wa.us or visit www.kitsapgov.com/volunteer/frmbrdapp.htm before 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 23.

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