Name: Bellingham City Council - Parks and Recreation Committee meeting, Mar 23, 2026
Start: 2026-03-23
End: 2026-03-23
Location: City of Bellingham

City Council - Parks and Recreation Committee

Mon, March 23, 2026

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City Council Parks and Recreation Committee — March 23, 2026

This was a Parks and Recreation Committee meeting chaired by Council Member Skip Williams, with Committee Members Dan Hammill and Jace Cotton present, as well as Council Members Lisa Anderson and Hannah Stone attending as observers. The sole agenda item was a presentation on the Civic Athletic Complex Master Plan.

Civic Athletic Complex Master Plan

Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Oliver and consultant Bryce from MXM (the planning firm) presented a long-range master plan that reimagines the Civic Athletic Complex — now rebranded conceptually as the "Civic Athletic *Campus*" — as a premier recreational and community destination for Northwest Washington. The planning process began in 2022 with a site assessment phase, moved into active master planning in fall 2024, and wraps up in early 2026. More than 1,000 community members participated through online surveys, open houses, and stakeholder consortium meetings involving Western Washington University, hockey and baseball user groups, and Bellingham Public Schools representatives.

The Vision and Layout

The plan organizes the sprawling, terraced site around a continuous north-south "civic spine" — an all-ages, all-abilities paved path that would connect the north fields through the forest, past the Sportslex, along Joe Martin Field, and down to a future community recreation center at the south end near Downer Fields. The spine would culminate in a car-free "civic promenade" between Civic Field and the Sportslex — a flexible festival street with street trees, benches, lighting, and potential food trucks — designed to make the site feel like a unified, inviting destination rather than a collection of disconnected facilities.

Key Components by Zone:

North end: A potential five-acre site reserved for the relocation of Carl Caser Elementary School (in coordination with Bellingham Public Schools), surrounded by softball, baseball, and multi-use youth sports fields. A wetland overlook along Whatcom Creek would serve as an outdoor education feature, particularly for school users.

Forest: The plan calls for a light-footprint approach that preserves the trees — a core community value heard repeatedly in public engagement — while potentially activating the space with something like a disc golf course, though that specific idea is not finalized and faces some concern given tree-impact issues at Cornwall Memorial Park.

Center: Expansion of indoor recreation space adjacent to the Sportslex, potentially adding a new sheet of ice or additional indoor soccer space, to be city-owned but partner-managed.

South end: A future community recreation center (replacing or significantly expanding Arie Hannah pool), a destination playground, and two additional turf ball fields formalizing Downer Fields.

Parking and Circulation

The plan retains the existing 571-space main parking lot largely in place, adds some reorganized and restriped parking areas for net new stalls, and creates designated vehicle load/unload zones throughout the site. The civic spine and promenade are designed to prioritize pedestrian and cyclist movement through the interior of the campus, with vehicle access remaining on Puget Street. A planned roundabout at Potter and Lincoln (a Public Works project) and a protected bike lane along Lakeway were cited as complementary infrastructure the plan builds upon.

Phasing

Phase 1: Coordinate with the school district on the north-end school relocation and field improvements (though the school district has recently pulled back on capital timelines due to declining enrollment, so this phase may shift).

Phase 2: Construct the civic spine and promenade — seen as a "2+2=5" investment that amplifies all surrounding assets.

Phase 3: Larger capital projects: Sportslex expansion and the community recreation center.

Staff emphasized this is an opportunistic blueprint — if funding or partnerships arise to accelerate phases, the city intends to move quickly.

Community Recreation Center Update

Director Oliver noted that planning for the community recreation center is already underway as a handoff from this master plan process. The city has received $200,000 from the state for a business plan. A feasibility study has confirmed that an expanded aquatics facility and community center can fit within the combined footprint of the existing Arie Hannah pool and the Carl Caser building site — roughly twice Arie Hannah's current footprint. Potential partners being discussed include the YMCA and Boys & Girls Club. Funding is described by the Mayor as a "yet to be defined funding mechanism," and capital costs are acknowledged as the bigger challenge, with operating costs expected to draw on existing recreation staff and potential partnerships.

Council Discussion Highlights

Council Member Hammill asked whether the school district would contribute to wetland mitigation and adjacent site improvements, not just the school parcel itself. Director Oliver confirmed the city and district had been working toward a co-management agreement for the fields, but that no formal agreement exists and the district's pullback means the school relocation is now fully in their court. She also clarified that under prior planning, the existing Carl Caser building would be used as a swing school by the district, then demolished before the city would purchase the site at market value.

Council Member Cotton asked about the community recreation center timeline and the balance between capital and operating challenges. Director Oliver confirmed capital costs are the primary hurdle, while operational costs are expected to be manageable through staff redeployment and partnerships.

Council Member Anderson expressed appreciation that forest preservation was incorporated, noting it was a priority she had heard consistently from constituents.

Council President Stone asked about transit access to the site, noting that Lakeway can be a difficult crossing for bus riders. Director Oliver acknowledged the question but said WTA coordination had not yet been formally undertaken, describing it as a future conversation. Stone also flagged disc golf's tree-impact track record at Cornwall as a caution for any forest activation plans.

Recommendation and Vote

The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board had previously recommended approval of the plan at its February 11 meeting. The committee moved to recommend adoption of the Civic Athletic Campus Master Plan to the full council.

Vote: Council Member Hammill moved; Council Member Cotton seconded (implied). Motion passed unanimously (3–0, all in favor, none opposed). The recommendation will be reported at the evening council meeting.

Key Takeaways

The Civic Athletic Complex Master Plan was unanimously approved by the committee and will go to the full council for adoption — a 20-year blueprint guiding investment in one of Bellingham's largest recreational sites.

A pedestrian "civic promenade" and north-south spine are the organizing concepts, designed to make the campus feel connected and accessible to all ages and abilities, with potential for festivals, food trucks, and community gatherings.

The north-end school relocation is in limbo. Plans to site a relocated Carl Caser Elementary on the north end of the campus are on hold because Bellingham Public Schools has pulled back on capital spending due to declining enrollment — meaning Phase 1 sequencing may need to shift.

A community recreation center (replacing/expanding Arie Hannah pool) is next in line, with $200,000 in state funding already secured for a business plan and early feasibility work underway — but the capital funding mechanism has not yet been determined.

Forest preservation was a clear community mandate that shaped the plan's layout, including where the school site was ultimately placed; any future forest activation (such as disc golf) will require careful planning to avoid tree damage.

AI-generated summary from voice-to-text transcript. Not the official record. Verify important details with the source documents linked above.

What happened at this meeting

A presentation on the Civic Athletic Complex Master Plan

# Civic Athletic Complex Master Plan Summary

Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Oliver and consultant Bryce from MXM presented the Civic Athletic Complex Master Plan, a 20-year strategic blueprint developed through extensive public engagement (2022-present) that reimagines the site as a "Civic Athletic Campus" with key features including relocation of Carl Koser Elementary School, expanded indoor recreation and aquatics facilities, a car-free civic promenade connecting multiple facilities, and an all-ages accessible path system. The three-phase implementation strategy prioritizes school district coordination and field upgrades (Phase 1), the civic promenade as a connector project (Phase 2), and sports facility and community recreation center expansion (Phase 3), with planning for the recreation center underway using $200,000 in state funding. Council Member Williams and other committee members praised the comprehensive community engagement, accessibility improvements, and forest protection priorities, while raising practical considerations including disc golf tree damage mitigation, school district cost-sharing for wetland mitigation, and potential WTA transit partnerships to reduce parking demand. The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval, recognizing that the phased approach allows flexibility to pursue future funding opportunities, though staff noted that final agreements with the school district on capital contributions remain pending due to the district's recent capital investment pullback.

Agenda items (1)

Procedural (1)

24868ProceduralA presentation on the Civic Athletic Complex Master Plan

City staff will present plans for improvements and future development of the Civic Athletic Complex, showing residents and council members what upgrades or changes are being considered for this public facility.

What happened

Additional votes recorded in minutes

Recommend adoption of the Civic Athletic Center Master Plan

aye 3

Daniel Hammillaye

Edwin 'Skip' Williamsaye

Jace Cottonaye

Verbatim transcript available

118 transcript segments indexed

City of Bellingham Parks and Recreation Committee minutes March 23, 2026, 10:40 AM Chair: Edwin H. "Skip" Williams Phone: 360-778-8200 Members: Daniel Hammill, Jace Cotton Email: ccmail@cob.org Web: cob.org/council City Council committee meetings Standing committee members receive reports and information, ask questions, and vote on a recommended action for consideration by the full Council at the regular meeting.

Welcome back to the Bellingham City Council committee meetings. So, the next meeting this morning is Parks and Recreation, and that committee is chaired by Council Member Williams. So, I will turn it over to him.

There is no public comment period during committee sessions. Call to order and roll call Council President Stone called the meeting to order at 10:40 a.m. Present: Committee Chair Edwin H. "Skip" Williams, Fourth Ward Committee Member Daniel Hammill, Third Ward Committee Member Jace Cotton, At-Large Parks and Recreation 24868 1.

>> Thank you very much, President Stone. Um, today we have one item on our agenda and I am joined by Council Members Anderson and Cotton for our committee meeting. And the um one item on the agenda is a is a presentation on the civic athletic comp complex master plan.

Now, the Civic Athletic Complex master plan re-imagines the Civic Athletic Complex as an exceptional community space that will serve generations to come and provide a strategic blueprint for needed improvements, upgrades, and new facilities.

A presentation on the Civic Athletic Complex Master Plan Summary: Nicole Oliver, Parks and Recreation Director, and Brice Maryman Founding Principal at MxM Landscape Architecture, presented the Civic Athletic Complex Master Plan.

The plan provides a strategic blueprint for improvements, upgrades, and new facilities at the Civic Athletic Complex. Council Members discussed the plan and asked questions. Action: Jace Cotton moved to recommend adoption of the Civic Athletic Center Master Plan.

This planning effort began in 2022. The process in included extensive public engagement of which I attended most of them and uh established a cons a a a consortium of user groups, public surveys, open houses and videos.

The plan incorporates the future potential for a relocated elementary school and creates opportunities for expanded indoor recreation. aquatics and a future community center. The long-term planning document will guide the investments, uses, and improvements to recreational and other assets uh throughout the whole civic athletic complex for the next 20 years.

and uh the parks and recreation advisory board has reviewed this and recommended approval of the plan at its meeting on February 11th. So based on all that, um I would like to turn it over to Nicole Oliver, our parks and recreation director.

>> Thank you, Council Member Williams. Um we are really excited to be here today. This has been a very long um and wonderful process. I wanted to thank our team that has helped bring this document together.

Um the first phase was led by Gina Austin, our park project engineer. And then this second phase when we did the actual plan um with the very important support of the mayor's office and forest especially um we also had a team with Melissa Bianone our recreation manager Lane Potter our design and development manager Melissa Marin did our communications was extremely helpful um we also had Neil McCarthy who's recently retired an RMC and Bryce of course is who you're going to be hearing from was a a key uh help in presenting this to the public.

We had an extraordinary amount of people who participated in this plan. Um we had people come to our open houses um on very rainy days. Um we had uh just a lot of people participating online and in person and we are really excited about the momentum that has come from this project and we are not going to waste it.

With that, I'm going to turn it over to Bryce from MXM. Thanks so much, Nicole, and thank you, council, for having us here today. We're really excited to share this vision that really is based um in large part on feedback from the community uh and a very engaged community, very passionate community.

Uh, as Nicole mentioned, we've been working on this project from since about 2002 when really we were just trying to get a handle on what is going on out at Civic because it's a legacy site, right? And there's been investments and accretions that have happened over the years and what is the condition of all the facilities that are out there.

So, that was the first phase is really about the site assessment and discovery phase. And then around fall of 2024, we really engaged on the master planning. Now that we understood what was out there as a set of existing conditions, we could begin to look forward and and begin that process.

And so really, we're in um this this master planning process kind of wrapping up now in winter of 2026. I guess we're early spring now. Um, but at the same time, there's another process that is that we're handing the baton off to, which is the next step around the community recreation center, and we can talk about that in Q&A if you have any questions there.

But really, this we're seeing this as a seamless handoff between the master planning process and the picking up of the community recreation center process. And then as Nicole alluded to, you know, I think that one of the things that we've heard is an excitement towards implementation and beginning to see some of these long-held community dreams fulfilled um as are laid out in this plan.

So, um a lot of people have have mentioned public engagement. Uh thank you, um Council Member Williams for all of your attendance. I think I've seen some of the other council members at some of the other meetings as well.

Um and of course, uh it wasn't just electeds. There was a lot of community passion behind the future of civic athletic complex. We approached the public engagement sort of um in in several concentric rings.

So one was sort of the power users at the site. Uh we had Western, we had the hockey folks, we had the baseball folks, we had the people who were using the sports plex, we had the adjacent um PTSA and administrators from the school system all kind of convening and setting aside some extra time in their day to really think in a deliberate way about what civic could be.

Um oftentimes we talked about it, what civic could be when it grows up, right? Um then there was the the public who uh sacrificed their rainy nights to spend some time with us indoors at Bodell Donovan hear the progress that we were making and offer their insights.

And then there was a whole other cadre of people who we didn't get to meet face tof face but over a thousand people who were responding to online surveys and taking those sorts of instruments um as their schedules allowed.

So, we thank um certainly everyone who was involved in the consortium, everyone who gave their feedback online, and I think that um no one who gave feedback is going to find this plan meets all of their objectives, but I hopefully they'll find something that they responded to within the plan.

So, I want to go ahead and without further ado kind of jump into what the master plan sets forth. The framework vision that we're presenting here is that Civic can and should be a premier civic and recreational destination in Northwest Washington.

It's a place for neighbors, for residents and visitors alike. And a pivot in our thinking has been away from civic athletic complex to the civic athletic campus. It should be a place that is connected and filled with a diversity of recreational and ecological amenities that cohhere and feel like a single legible hole.

I think right now navigating the site it can feel like individual destinations and we want to create sort of a spine that sticks them together and that those diverse destinations are not like you go to one thing and then you're out of there that there's something there for everyone and there's an opportunity to linger and build community and with that we see this as a hub for community gatherings, for sporting events, for play, for food, for arts, for exploration of the natural world and also for exceptional education opportunities.

Um, I am not going to read this slide. I just wanted to make sure that you all had it in your packets, which is sort of all the different pieces. In the next couple slides, I'm going to go through this step by step.

Um, but this really is a plan that has a lot of diversity for everyone in the community to find something that they're going to enjoy and be passionate about. Um so a lot of the the main questions that we were faced with as a design team was thinking about circulation.

Obviously this is a site that is adjacent to I5 just a couple blocks away. It has Lakeway Boulevard kind of on the south end of the campus. You also have uh Puget which is um both a bike biking spine and a transit spine.

So, how do people get into and access and navigate the site? And then without it being a cut-through place where people are driving through a very busy parking lot um and creating unsafe conditions. So the way that we begin to think about this is um that the access spine is going to remain on on Puget, but that the civic spine, the place for people to connect, the place that is safe for everyone in the community is really um this north south spine that connects between uh the civic athletic or sorry the sports plex, the stadium, um Joe Martin field as well as downer fields down at the south end there along Orleans and defining that circulation system is a series of gateways that mark your entry into the site that say we're stepping out of the the normal cityscape and into this place that is really special for the community.

And in this work, we sort of the seed was planted, if you will, by public works has already planned improvements of a roundabout um over there at Potter and Lincoln, I believe, if I'm remembering my my names right.

Um as well as the fact that along Lakeway Public Works is also planning a protected bike lane along there. So, we had this existing set of language that we could build on and think through. So, let's start at the north end of the site and I'll go go a little bit deeper um in what the site plan reveals.

So, this blue box you can see in the upper right hand corner is the site that we've been in conversation with Bellingham Public Schools about as the potential relocation site for Carl Koser Elementary.

That was in some ways one of the big pieces that we needed to find a place to land on the site because it is a large program footprint, five acres uh approximately to be able to fit that onto the site.

We went through um in an early planning process some different places where that could land on the site. All of them had positives and negatives. This is the one that felt like it made the most sense because it moves the kids away from Lakeway.

It tucks them down in a part of the site that uh is is away from a lot of that noise and traffic um and also gives them a user group to anchor that north end of the site. We also then see a series of fields to the left of that that are both softball fields, baseball, little league baseball fields as well as a mixeduse field for you know uh youth soccer and that sort of thing.

Um I there we go. We also had then have at one point we had sort of uh positioned kind of a wetland overlook condition here in conversations with the planning department and sort of the critical areas challenges there.

We've moved that as a wetland uh overlook education opportunity here. And we think that nexus between the school users and being able to learn about the creeks and how it falls down uh Wacom Creek towards the sound is going to be a really impactful and meaningful thing.

And it was certainly something that we heard from the community as being a powerful piece of this story. As we start moving up the slope towards the south, one of the things that really emerged in the conversation was that this needed to be a place that was truly for everyone.

And one of the challenges of navigating the site right now is essentially it's a series of terraces where you have a flat thing and then you have a steep slope and then you have flat thing and then you have steep slope.

What if we could make that a more gradual path? And really that gradual path became the entire spine, the entire organizing principle for the entire site. So that's what this orange path and this orange line represents is an all ages, all abilities, mixed youths path that navigates up the existing slopes around the existing trees and creates a space that is for everyone.

Whether you're in a wheelchair, whether you're a parent pushing a stroller, whether you are a kid, you know, lugging your your catcher's bag down to the fields, this is a path that everyone can use and becomes what we're calling that civic spine to getting you from the north end of the site to the south end of the site.

One of the things that we also heard from the community loud and clear um and I doubt this will be a surprise from you is that the protection of the forest was one of the core values that they wanted to see uh uh protected.

At one point as we were exploring different ways that the school could land there was an impact to the forest and I think that people responded uh you know that's not the right move for us. So what we're proposing in the forest is a relatively light footprint.

At the same time that people were saying we need to protect the forest, there was also concern about um some of the negative activities that have occurred in the forest over the coming years. So we're trying to find ways to layer in some activation into the forest.

And one of the things and this is what made it sort of into the graphic here was an idea of um of a a Frisbee golf course in there. We're not wed to that idea, but it's one of the ideas about how we might activate the the the area under the forest while having a light footprint and making sure that it's safe for everyone.

Um, and that that would be designed at a future phase and be uh professionally done. As we're moving towards the center part of the site, this I think is where we start to get some real excitement about what the future of the recreational opportunities can be.

So you're seeing that civic spine come in and land at where the culde-sac is now uh at the end of Orleans. Um to the north of the sports flex, that blue box there is really one of the opportunities that we see to expand the indoor sports recreation opportunities at the site.

Um by creating either a new uh sheet of ice, creating additional indoor soccer space. This is a need that we heard time and time again and I think it's in our public feedback we've certainly heard that people are very excited about the expansion of that indoor space.

Um that is space that we would expect to be managed in the same way that it's you know uh the city owned building but uh managed by a partner along along uh Orleans here. We're organizing the parking in a more efficient way so we can squeeze in some more parking spaces there.

We're also creating sort of this nexus moment here where there begins this conversation between the sports plex and the the gate house here to civic field. And that can be a real drop off point, pickoff point, especially for kids, families, anyone with a lugging a heavy hockey bag uh to the sports flex.

Finally, as we're moving south, um the last piece of the puzzle here, and in some ways, you know, one of our bigger moves, if you will, is to make that civic spine truly be sort of a civic prominade here, adjacent to Joe Martinfield.

So, this is a stretch of the current streets um that that are not public right of way, but they are park land, publicly owned land, turning this into a car-free block of traffic along here. Um, this can allow anyone, again, whether you're uh kids running up and down, whether you're an elderly person going to a game, anyone in the community to navigate safely along this north south corridor and connect to the future community recreation center, which we foresee going up here, connecting to Joe Martin Stadium, connecting to Civic Field, connecting to the Sportslex in a way that is safe and comfortable for everyone, including adding some new street trees along there, adding some uh benches along there, places to rest and linger.

We could see it in certain days of the week, certain times of the year, being filled with food trucks to help provide food. We could see it be a festival street, you know, farmers market type situation, really being a flexible space that anyone in the community can find something to do at different days of of the year, different times of day.

And then the site is anchored at the south end by this future community recreation center that I alluded to before. In front of that we see um a bit of a destination playground, something to anchor that site both for visitors but also for the surrounding neighborhood kids who really don't have that that playground just adjacent to it.

As well as two additional turf ball fields at the south end of the site really formalizing what is offered at Downer Fields. Now, um I should say, uh I forgot to mention this. These are also turf ball fields at the south end or the north end of the site, excuse me, as well.

So, what might that prominade look like? This is uh an artist's rendering of what that could look like. You know, using some ballard, using some simple pavement markings, adding some street trees, having some of that overhead lighting to be begin to create this space that really feels like a sticky gathering place and a magnetic spot that anyone can come to.

And it's really an invitation to linger where there's not a lot of invitations to linger out there right now. a place that um anyone in Bellingham can come together and and hang out for a little while, supervise our kids, watch them uh visit visit the game, what have you.

So, one of the I mentioned one of the the questions that we had to really wrestle with was around circulation and parking. And I wanted to just dig in a little bit deeper there uh because it's certainly one of the pieces that we heard a lot of feedback about.

Um at one point, you know, we had some structured parking on the site and we've rethought that. So where we have parking stalls currently, we're largely keeping those in place with the exception of that one block of the civic prominade between Civic Fieldway Way and uh Potter Street.

So we keep the 571 stalls within the large parking field at Civic Athletic Complex. We also established some new parking areas and some more efficient parking layouts with some of the restriping and organizing of the streetscape.

Um, and we've also identified in these blue bars here places where there's load and unload opportunities. We certainly heard from the athletic users that one of the challenges of the site is being able to just get all of your gear from your vehicle into the facility that you're going to.

And so we wanted to make that accommodation with the available curb space by allowing people to unload their stuff, drop it off for a couple minutes, you know, drop their kids off, go run in the parking lot and go see the event that they're going to.

So we think we we've planned for uh a good amount of curb unload space. It may be that we don't need all these and I think that that can be something that's somewhat dynamically managed as it gets implemented and you sort of learn the rhythms of the site.

So talking about phasing, one of one of our thoughts is that we're really kind of working from south or sorry from north to south. So that first FA phase might be that conversation with the school district about how the the north end gets implemented as well as the upgrades to these fields.

One of the things that in our site assessment phase we were really learning is some of those Jerry fields at the north end of the site are getting soggy, getting a little rund down. So they they need some TLC sooner rather than later I think is is what we're we're understanding.

The second phase is really about constructing that civic prominade and that civic spine. Um that would be a discrete capital project but it's one that ties all these different pieces together. So we see it as one of those 2 plus two equals five types of investments.

Uh because it amplifies every other asset that's already along the corridor. And then the phase three is really about these larger capital intensive uh investments around the expansion of the sports flex and around the community recreation center.

Um that's our thinking of it, but we've also had a lot of conversations with staff about this is a opportunistic blueprint and if there's an opportunity through funding, through appropriations, through external partners to execute some of these things earlier, then we should seize those.

Absolutely. So, this is just bringing back that last or that that uh overall vision for what the site can be as it as it gets built out. And with that, I want to turn it over to you all for any questions and clarifications that I can offer.

>> All right. Well, thank you very much. This was a very good presentation and it really reflects all the hard work that's gone into getting us to this point. So, um, before we launch into the conversation, I made a mistake earlier and I want to rec recognize council member Hamill who is a member of the committee rather than council member Anderson who is also here.

So, so that being said, I will uh turn the conversation over to the committee members and uh do you have any comments or anything you'd like to add or ask? >> Uh thanks, chair. Um first of all, thank you for the presentation here this morning.

I was just uh telling um Director Oliver that I had walked the site this weekend with my wife and it's a great reminder that this is indeed a legacy that we can leave for future generations. Um the proximity of where it's located at in in Bellingham really matters.

It's sort of a almost a centrally located location. Um the planning here really makes that accessibility issue that I had worried about. I think it addresses that with the uh the prominade. think that's a brilliant um spine as as you you had put it uh for access and then the circulation that you just highlighted with the vehicle traffic, the drop offs for the you know the families with the heavy hockey bags and all the equipment is very important as well.

Um I just remember when Arie Hannah um came to town and it was like this big deal that there was a building with a external water slide if you recall that and I think everyone just went you know uh they're very excited about that that addition to the community and that was years ago.

That was what early uh 1990s mid maybe. Um it's it's clear that that facility the city has outgrown that facility. we need to improve this broader area uh this part this broader parcel and that's why I like the campus versus complex I think that's really a good way good framing mechanism to think about how we can look at the broader uh component uh when it comes to the planning I guess my question would be um would the school district if everything goes the way it's supposed to on that northern end would the school district contribute to wetland mitigation and other things site improvements um that are not just in that subject parcel where the where Carl Koser the 5acre um piece but you know anything that's adjacent to it.

How does that work is I guess what I'm getting at. Well, you know, we tal we've talked with the school district a lot and um as you may be aware, most recently um the school district has has kind of pulled back from some of their rethinking their capital investments due to declining um birth rates and and uh there aren't as many children to serve.

It changes some of their outlook on when and how they're going to be rebuilding the remaining elementary schools. um we were we're poised to um have an agreement with the school district but we have not done that yet and that's been something that um Forest and the mayor's office have been very much um leading that uh so the idea was that um those fields would be part of that in that investment in the school to rebuild those fields and then we were working on a way to co-manage them.

So it but we do not have a formal agreement right now and with them taking a step back um that pressure to deliver that site is now we're we're fully ready when and if the school district is ready to relocate and I think the plan really reflects the strength of our partnership and our and our um vision together that it is it would be a great partnership but it really is in their court right now.

So, we may that may not be the first thing we do. Um, we may have to move to phase two. >> Okay. Uh, Council Member Cotton, do you have anything you'd like to add? >> You got to my question first, um, Director Oliver, but, um, I guess, um, maybe looking forward to the community recreation center planning phase.

Um, yeah, what can the community expect and on what timeline? Well, we are um it's underway. We've um kicked off the community recreation center planning phase of the project. We received uh $200,000 from the state to work on a business plan.

And we are working on some focus groups and some revenue generating options, what our community can support as far as um the region. and for athletic facilities. Um we are there's interest there's things per percolating all over the place right now over this topic and so we're we will be definitely involving the community in in that.

We have done some preliminary evaluation of Arie Hannah and believe we can accommodate um an expanded aquatics and a community center in the property that we have um because we wanted to make sure that was feasible because we didn't know what would happen or when with the school district.

So um we know we can do it. Um and it's and it's the community will be very much hearing about surveys options. Um we have Melissa Marin and Melissa Bianone and RMC with Brad and Bryce are on that project as well as um DH Hogan which does a lot of work on uh recreation facilities.

>> Okay. Anything else? >> Um I guess uh what do we anticipate being the the bigger challenge to solve the capital costs or the operating costs? >> Well, I think it's going to be the capital. Um we the mayor has this wonderful term as a yet to defi to be defined funding mechanism.

So that's what we're investigating with this business plan. There's a lot of um good examples in Puet Sound about how to pull something like this off. But um operationally, we would envision that our recreation staff that work at the pool right now would also uh work at the at the future community center and um probably our additional staff that are in um would also relocate down there to help run it.

We also have staff at Civic working there and the models that we've seen also could involve partnerships with um some sort of YMCA component. We've been talking to them as well. Um we we've talked to um there's the Boys and Girls Club that could be involved.

Um there's multiple uh planning efforts underway right now around these topics. I think our project has really lifted the awareness of the need and uh so there's a lot of lot of interest right now. We're going to try and capture it.

>> Exciting. Thank you. >> Okay. Council member Hamill. >> Yeah. Just another question that I've gotten from constituents. um the existing Carl Koser building. What happens to that? And then item 13 was um new community recreation center with expanded aquatics and it's in the footprint of the current Arie Hannah.

Does that mean deconstruction of the current and then a building of of a new center? That's I guess my question is like is there no way that Arie Hannah can be like added to or >> the actually if you look at the graphic it includes the space between Carl Kosure and Arie Hannah which is a very big space and between the two we have um a feasibility that's looked at Arie Hannah's footprint the to maximize the programmability and to operational and to operate a facility and um also allow a phased construction and add a community center of various sizes.

So, we do have a feasibility study that that looks at all of that and has a a an option that would fit within that double. It's really twice as big as Arie Hannah right now if you look at the the map.

Um and then the existing Carl Kosure under our um the um plan that we were working on with the school district had them using that school as a swing school for a period of time and then it would be offered to us um for sale at market value.

Like we were offering to sell the property um to the school district for the market value of of that site at the north end. But we would ask in in our planning documents, we were talking about that site being cleared and demoed um before we would want to buy it.

>> Thank you. >> Okay. Any further comments? Council member Anderson, you have anything? >> No, I just want to thank you for the presentation. Um been kind of monitoring this, having conversations. I know it's a it's a very long-term plan.

Um people have been asking like how soon and it's like it's you know it's all about money and time and so it depends on when we get the money we'll have the time. Um but looking forward um over the next five six years to see phase one start manifesting.

So thank you and yes the the trees were very important to a lot of the constituents that I talked to. So, I'm glad to see that there's kind of an adaptive uh holistic use of it, but keeping the forest preserved.

So, I think that meant a lot to folks. So, I'm glad to see that's incorporated. >> Okay. President Stone. >> Yeah. Thank you very much for the presentation. I just had a couple of items. One, um, you made reference to, you know, potential activation of the forest that Council Member Anderson was referencing and the possibility of a disc golf course or something going into there.

I know you mentioned you weren't that the city, I guess, wasn't wed to that idea. I was just curious, are there other options that were being explored for that that portion of the site? >> Well, um we did get some concerns raised about the disc golf in the um in the last phase of public engagement.

Um because we are having some trouble at Cornwall Memorial Park doing due to the impacts of disc golf on the trees. We have a um a new license with um the disc golf community to to install some better tree protection and and so that that group is really instrumental in helping maintain and monitor the disc golf course at Cornwall, but we just would want to make sure that they would be willing and able to take that on again if we were to do an expansion.

>> That makes sense. Thank you. Um and one other question I as so you me highlighted the loading and unloading which I can appreciate the importance of that for those carrying lots of gear to utilize those facilities.

Um but then noted by the large parking lot and some of the other right events when you just have attendees coming. I was just curious if there have been conversations with WTA at this point at all when I think about sort of the trolley that goes down to the waterfront.

Is there potential for there to be right access to this site beyond the stop on say Lakeway um to to again have access to this location? >> No, I don't know the answer to that. Um, we we talked a lot about the parking lot um uh and uh decided that um rather than trying to tackle rebuilding it, but maybe doing some improvements to it and making some other ways that other um surface activities could be used utilize that paved surface.

Um, we really wanted to focus on the key deliverables to the community that we were absolutely certain and wanting to make this plan really realistic and that's why we focused on the indoor recreation and expanded aquatics and then e accessibility and um connectivity.

But we are um April bruise day is going to be at Civic this year and we really are hoping that this prominade um and and uh making it more accessible and friendly and user friendly is going to create other opportunities for bigger festivals and events to happen there and try and make it more of a gathering space.

So I think it's going to I don't know if I answered your question though. I guess just a brief follow when I think about Lakeway and if you had a high volume of users trying to take the bus and then cross right cross Lakeway depending on if where they were coming from.

Um just a plug for maybe future discussions about access to that site but overall very excited and I appreciate the approach that you know yes I think there was some commentary about this will be happening.

Um, obviously it's a phased approach, but I think that's the first step, right? Having a vision for what that looks like and then you can be more opportunistic when there are right funding sources that, you know, fall in our lap.

Hopefully, um, we're able and poised to take advantage of that. Um, but great work. So, thank you. >> Okay. Um, well, I'm just going to add my two cents to this, too, because I have observed the process that got us here and been been in involved in multiple discussions with the parks advisory committee and all of that.

And I just want to say that growing this now from what it is to what it's going to be is a big huge step forward. And um I know when I first came here having a complex like that as it is now back in the 90s was a big deal.

But now um what we're going to do is reflect it. It reflects on our growth and our need for more diverse activities at at this section. That is also hopefully incorporates the the uh um school function, additional sports opportunities like disc golf and things like that.

But I do remember at one of the sessions um I believe you spoke to that the concept of having the prominade and all of that would be a place where people could take the bus and walk and walk in rather than drive over and so on and so on.

But those discussions are going to happen as the project goes down the path. So, um, that being said, the recommendation is to approve the adoption of the civic athletic master plan and I'll entertain a motion to do so.

>> I move to recommend approval um of the adoption of the civic athletic center master plan. >> Okay. Any further discussion from the committee members? Okay. All in favor, please say I. >> I. I all opposed.

Thank you. The motion passes and that will be reported at our evening meeting. So that was the only item on our agenda today and thank you very much for everything you have done to get this going. And seeing no further business, this committee is adjourned.

Back to you, President Stone. >> Thank you very much, Council Member Williams. Um so with that that will end our committee meetings for the morning. We will reconvene this afternoon at 1:00 with um the public health safety justice and equity committee um chaired by council member Hamill.