City of Kent parks facilities slowly falling apart

Numerous amenities at Kent city parks are slowly but surely starting to fall apart.

Without enough money in the Parks Department to make all of the repairs, city staff compiled a list of potential facilities that could be closed this year.

The city closed the boardwalk at Lake Fenwick Park in January after shutting down a small fishing dock at the park last year. More closures are soon to come, from the Earthworks Park amphitheater to three tennis courts at Garrison Creek Park.

Kent has about $500,000 a year in its parks budget to spend on repairs and replacements, not nearly enough to go around at a city that has been known for its high-quality regional and neighborhood parks.

“The age and fatigue is beginning to show throughout the park system,” Parks Director Jeff Watling told the City Council’s Parks and Human Services Committee on April 23. “We’ve been able to address some of these but the majority we have not been able to address.

“The number of amenities that we are going to need to be closing, more closely monitoring or to spend more maintenance dollars is beginning to magnify.”

Parks staff has accomplished several repairs or replacements including installing new synthetic turf at Wilson Playfields; new playgrounds at Green Tree Turnkey, Seven Oaks and Tudor Square parks; funding for the Kent Valley Loop Trail to connect the Green River Trial and Interurban Trail; and later this year new field lights at Kent Memorial Park and Hogan Park at Russell Road.

But if, for example, staff decides to repave the back parking lots for three fields at Hogan Park at Russell Road, fewer dollars are left for other parks.

“When you’re looking at a repaving of $280,000 to $350,000 it becomes very hard to prioritize that when we are trying to balance all of the other needs as well,” Watling said.

Kent has about 250 assets in its parks worth $10,000 or more and about 33 percent of those are nearing the end of their lifespan.

“This is an extremely urgent situation,” Watling said. “We continue to see diminished performance in our parks and trail system. We’re funding 9 percent of our parks capital need and that is not to build new parks or bringing on new parks. That diminished performance is going to continue to show itself at a much more rapid pace.”

Councilman Dennis Higgins, who serves on the Parks Committee, said the city needs to find answers to fix up the parks.

“We have to work with our new Parks Commission and go back to our full council and figure something out here,” Higgins said. “We cannot preside over the degradation of this system and the way that it’s going.”

Higgins said the council presented to voters a parks and streets property tax levy in 2012 to help cover repair costs but voters turned down the measure. Something still needs to be done.

“We’ve gotten back to the point where we are starting to make headway in a lot of areas but we still haven’t addressed this very fundamental issue of reinvesting in our parks system and making sure it’s going to be there for the next generation like it was for us and our kids,” Higgins said.

Councilwoman Deborah Ranniger said residents need to let the city know what they want.

“We have some tough decisions to make and we really do need to hear from the public about what’s important so we know how to allocate what resources we do have.”

Watling said that the city needs to find a way to increase revenue to reinvest back into the park system.

“It’s a critical time to ask these hard questions and have this community conversation and to work with our Parks Commission to find ways to seek creative funding options,” he said. “But it is an issue that we want to reach out to the community about what type of trail system and parks they want.”

Parks going bad in 2015

• Amenities to be closed or removed

Earthworks amphitheater and stairs; Springwood slide; Garrison Creek tennis courts (3 to close, 2 to be resurfaced); Park Orchard picnic shelter; Kent Memorial tennis lights.

• Amenities at risk of closing, removal

Briscoe picnic shelters and paths; Burlington gazebo and pagoda; Meridian Glen neighborhood park; Salt Air playground; East Hill playground; Hogan Park at Russell Road back parking lots for 3 fields and playground; Lake Meridian dock; Kent Memorial restrooms and driveway; Lake Fenwick stairs and east boardwalk; Clark Lake boardwalk; Kaibara pond; Commons pathways.