As reported in Patch on Tuesday, November 20th, the Bonney Lake Park Board during their meeting on Monday, November 19th, voted to forward three recommendations to the City Council for their consideration. Briefly, the recommendations were:
- Recommended that the Council move forward to put a Metropolitan Park District on the ballot for April 13th, 2013.
- Recommended that the City Council make up the Metropolitan Park District Board.
- Recommended that the City establish a dedicated Parks Department.
I know that many of you out there are like me and have been waiting for the City to start building trails to make it easier for us to get around the City, or you may be looking forward to having a Community Center/YMCA in Bonney Lake, or if you’re involved in youth sports, you may be looking for the City to develop a Sports Complex. Now is our opportunity, but it’s up to each of us to make our desires known. Talk to the Council and let them know you’re in favor of moving forward on a Metropolitan Park District now. Let them know you don’t want to wait another decade before we provide an adequate number of parks, trails, fields, and some kind of community center for the more than 17,000 residents of our city.
The Mayor and Council needs to hear from us. You can email all of the Council at: council@ci.bonney-lake.wa.us, or you can attend the next meeting slated for Tuesday, 11/27/2012, at the Justice Center, 9002 Main Street in Bonney Lake and tell them in person.
This will only succeed if we all work together. I’m in, are you?
Alan Yorke Park cannot and should not be expected to handle the recreational needs of a city of more than 17,000 people. We need more parks. We need a trail system that will connect our citizens to areas around town without having to jump into a car every time. We need ball fields that will provide recreational opportunities for our youth involved in organized team sports. And we need some kind of community center that can give all age groups a place to gather and celebrate events, participate in activities, socialize, inform, and educate. This could be accomplished through the formation of a Metropolitan Park District, but our Mayor and City Council needs to know that the people of this city want it. They will be making a decision no later than January 8th on whether to put this proposal on the ballot. It depends on you. Are you going to let them know if you want a Metropolitan Park District? Are you going to be one of those who is willing to express your opinion? I'm in, are you?
According to the Washington State Employment Security Office, Pierce County has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the state and PC's unemployment rate is higher than King, Thurston, Yakima and Snohomish Counties. Lastly, look at the revenue generating struggles of the Metro Parks Tacoma. Obviously much larger than the plan the Bonney Lake Parks Board is proposing, but the issues are relevant and are not isolated to just the Tacoma area. According to an 11/24/2012 article in the TNT, Metro Parks Tacoma is facing a $7M shortfall in its general fund budget, requiring the District to cut jobs. Because of a 9.1% reduction in assessed property values the district projects a loss of about $3.1M in property tax revenues over the next two years. With this loss of revenue, the District expects personnel cost to rise by 6%. This opposition is made with the economy in mind and nothing more. Too many of our neighbors are still struggling to make ends meet and creating an MPD requires more money from a dry well.
An MPD (Metropolitan Parks District) would become a separate entity, governed with the sole intention of establishing "Park" projects, funding them, and maintaining them once built. Yes, an MPD is a method to tax a community with State restrictions, however, all money collected stays separate from City coffers and is mandated to be only used for "Park" projects and maintenance. Putting together a long term plan which addresses Parks (trails, ball parks, community center, etc.) is taking the long view on a solution which can address all needs, desires, plans, etc. for a growing city. It is not something which I or many others will actually bare witness to, in its entirety, in the near future. Remember, all things are possible given time and money. If you are not willing to pay for the things you want then you won't get them.
What is the opposition to waiting 2 years? It seems more fiscally responsible to allow citizens to climb out of this economic hole before asking for more of their money. I appreciate this forum to discuss this issue.
The only opposition I have to waiting 2 years or any further time period is that there is no sure bet that times will be better. There has been far to much talk and far to little action in getting something done concerning Parks. Lets think about your 2 year idea. Assuming an MPD makes it's way to an April 2013 vote it wouldn't become effective for some time period past then. In order for an MPD to opperate it has to have money. This means the board of the MPD would need to come up with a plan of initial projects, determine a detailed budget for each and then determine a rate at which to begin imposing a tax. This again would take months to put together. If you also consider that there would be public input periods prior to any project detail and budgeting took place, this could drag out for another year. Lastly, there would need to be discussion with the city and a detailed organizational relationship would need to be worked out. A transitional period determined and agreed to, again all adding time to any future tax levy. So you see, an April vote would not impose an immediate tax to a Bonney Lake resident. It could take another year or so prior to anyone ever seeing any new tax.
What happened to your two year idea? You still haven't fully explained where you came up with the magical number. Can I look forward to greater fortune and higher standard of living by then? I want some assurances.
It's interesting in many ways to follow the BL park discussion because many of us just take parks for-granted. I grew up in Tacoma and never really thought about what it would be like if those old parks were just being created... what if Tacoma said no to park creation years ago? What kind of city would we have now? Preserving green space is an essential part of a city's responsibility to its citizens, I believe. Kudos to the city council for pushing it to the April ballot. Now it's up to voters....
During the past few years, our community has undergone economic hardships like other neighborhoods around the country. Our city parks and the events that have been offered have provided a place for our families to gather, exercise, socialize, and be entertained. Bonney Lake has been fortunate to have a mayor and council who have been able to deal with most of our economic shortfalls with the help and guidance of a very able financial staff, but like everyone on a budget living through these tough times, some services may suffer. Since Bonney Lake does not have a dedicated Park Dept., there is not a “Park Budget” to deal specifically with the needs and growth of our communal facilities. It is an “add on” to the Public Works Department, whose primary concern is roads, sidewalks, storm water, and sewers. These things are crucial to a city, but then parks are also crucial to our quality of life. We need to have a dedicated Park Dept. that does not rely on a Public Works handout from the General Fund to install a new picnic table or repair the swings. We need to consider the advantages of forming an MPD so we will have dedicated funding for our trails, playfields, and parks.