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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date:
October 31, 2007
Contact: Clarence Moriwaki
Phone: (360) 337-4481
No. 07-75
Kitsap County Parks and Recreation Sustainability Task
Force presents “Report of Recommendations” to help chart the future of
Kitsap County parks and recreation programs
PORT
ORCHARD, WA—After an aggressive six-week schedule and subsequent
follow-up meetings, today the select Kitsap County Parks and Recreation
Sustainability Task Force presented the Board of County Commissioners a
ten-page “Report of Recommendations” for the Kitsap County Parks and
Recreation Department.
“We all enjoy and cherish Kitsap County’s great parks and recreational
opportunities, and we believe that these recommendations from the task force
could truly improve their viability and resilience for years to come,”
Kitsap County Parks and Recreation Sustainability Task Force chair Patty
Lent said.
The document lists nine observations that assess the current state of
affairs of the Parks and Recreation Department, and each observation offers
recommended solutions.
Some of the major recommendations of the task force included:
· Creating a master maintenance and operations plan for all county parks and
related facilities
· Developing a process for financial tracking and performance reports
· Review and revise the policies for fees and rates that have not increased
since 2003
· Update the county’s web site to include on-line registration
· Make the Kitsap County Events Center at the fairgrounds into a unique unit
with fees generated to support its own operations and maintenance
· Shifting the county’s focus from offering recreation programs to becoming
a regional coordinator and facilitator of duplicative and existing public
and private recreational offerings
· Suspend the Holidazzle event for 2007, saving $20,000 or 7% of the
county’s overall recreation budget
· Review the current inventory of parks for viability, maintenance and
overall benefit
· Increasing the role of the existing Kitsap County Parks and Recreation
Advisory Board
The full report can be found on the Kitsap County Website at:
http://www.kitsapgov.com/pdf/2007_kcpr_recommendations.pdf
With the $4 million budget shortfall facing the Kitsap County general fund,
budget cuts being considered pointed to discretionary – or elective –
departments such as Parks and Recreation, the largest among the county’s few
non-mandated programs.
The task force was established on August 13, 2007 to advise the Board of
Commissioners with short and long term strategies for the future of the
Parks and Recreation Department.
The nine-member panel began meeting on August 15. Chaired by former Central
Kitsap County Commissioner Patty Lent, the task force included:
Anne Blair, Bainbridge Island, administrator of the Kitsap Public Facilities
District
Danny Brown, Port Orchard, South Kitsap Rotary Club president
Thomas Jelcick, Hansville, retired Navy Region Northwest regional community
support director and former Monroe Parks and Recreation District board of
directors
Carl Johnson, Silverdale, Central Kitsap Community Council chair, Central
Kitsap School District board member and Clear Creek Trail Project leader
Silvia Klatman, Port Orchard, Bremerton Area Chamber of Commerce executive
director
Mary McClure, Kingston, Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council executive
director
Kathleen Simpson, Long Lake, certified public accountant and active youth
sports leader
Frank Stowell, Bainbridge Island, Kitsap County Parks Advisory Board vice
chair
The enabling resolution with members biographies are on the Kitsap County
website
here.
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