SEQUIM — The Sequim City Council won’t purse a Metropolitan Park District to help build and repair city parks.
Sequim Public Works Director Paul Bucich told council members on Aug. 13 that it would be a significant lift without “a great certainty of success if we move forward with it.”
“This may be something we revisit in the future, but as it stands right now, this does not seem to be advantageous with any high degree of success for the city of Sequim,” he said in a video presentation for the meeting.
Mayor Brandon Janisse made the request at an April meeting for staff to make a list of pros and cons after council members chose a design for Centennial Park at the corner of Sequim Avenue and Washington Street.
Council members did not take a formal vote on the issue last month.
Bucich shared the pros and cons in person and in the video, saying it could create guaranteed funding for parks and recreation facilities and activities, create new jobs and reduce the city’s reliance on the general fund for parks.
However, if the district went outside of the city, it would be governed by an independent board, and the city would not have control of operational and financial decisions in its parks.
The city also would likely relinquish ownership of its parks and recreation to the district, he said.
That would included spaces like Carrie Blake Community Park and events such as the Sunshine Festival.
City manager Matt Huish said city staff felt the parks are the heart of the city.
“To give that up would need to be a very thoughtful thing,” he said. “It didn’t feel right at all.”
If a Metropolitan Park District (MPD) extended beyond city limits, there also would need to be interlocal agreements with Clallam County and Clallam County Park & Recreation District No. 1 (Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center), and then a vote among residents would require a simple majority to pass.
Bucich said it also would require the city to hire a marketing consultant for outreach, again without a certainty of success.
“It’s questionable if county residents will see the value of additional taxation to improve facilities that primarily appear to be limited within the city of Sequim boundaries,” he said.
“With the demographics in the community and surrounding communities, it’s going be challenging to convince them to impose a new tax on themselves (and) to take care of what some people already feel is being taken care of within the city of Sequim.”
Bucich said council members could consider MPD boundaries within city limits, the Sequim School District boundaries, from Miller Peninsula to east Port Angeles or some other configuration.
Council members also considered an MPD in 2015 but decided against it.
Bucich said he agrees with their conclusion as it “doesn’t make a lot of sense at this time.”
“I don’t know when it will, but not at this time,” he said.
Janisse said the recommendation was not the outcome he would have liked, but “losing control (of parks) is something I would not like.”
He said he wanted to look at funding alternatives that don’t depend on grants for park development, especially with many projects coming online and needing funding.
The city most recently finalized a $2.45 million purchase of 16.52 acres of farmland for a future park in the 800 block of West Hendrickson Road.
“To me and staff, it’s not looking like a viable way to look at things, at least at this time,” Janisse said.
Huish said the city is done purchasing park space as it has “the right square footage for our residents and our surrounding communities.”
“Now everything will go into development,” he said. “We’re really excited about ramping up and accelerating the development of what we have.”
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
