SEQUIM — City officials continue to explore the possibility of placing a citywide metropolitan park district on the February ballot.
The deadline to file for the special election is Dec. 11.
“If we really were going to place another metropolitan park district on the ballot in February, everything would have to be done by Dec. 7,” Joe Irvin, Sequim parks manager, said during Monday night’s council meeting.
“The city of course has been working on an MPD since mid-2010, so all the stuff is ready,” added Craig Ritchie, interim city manager.
“But the important thing is to work with all of the stakeholders before anything is done by the City Council.”
These stakeholders include but are not limited to Clallam County, the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, Sequim School District, senior center, tennis and pickleball advocates, Sequim Family Advocates, senior softball, bicycle clubs, Little League and the Sequim Prairie Garden Club.
The district would be within the boundaries of the Clallam County portion of the Sequim School District.
According to Ritchie, the city’s metropolitan park district would be similar to that created for the William Shore Memorial Pool District in Port Angeles, with board members overseeing the district being appointed by both the city and the county.
On hold
The City Council on April 27 endorsed efforts to pursue the feasibility of placing a “broad-based” park district on the February ballot but had put the issue on hold until the Aug. 4 election, when voters considered approving a metropolitan park district to solely fund the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center (SARC).
Voters rejected the SARC measure.
The measure would have provided funding for the facility at 610 N. Fifth Ave., which includes the city’s only public pool.
SARC board members have said that without the funding generated through a park district, the facility will run out of funds by December 2016 and may close before then.
Financial solution
The first step in the city’s plan is to determine a short-term financial solution for SARC through 2017.
After the Aug. 4 defeat, the city began looking “to see where our community should go with respect to immediately — first and foremost –— keeping SARC open and operational and saving them,” Irvin said.
“We would have to work with the existing SARC board to look at appropriate short-term financing options to keep them operational.”
This could include a combination of expenditure reductions and a request for a time-limited tax levy, reservation of Rural County Opportunity funds for any capital emergency needs and assistance in seeking grants and low-interest loans.
Frank Pickering, SARC board chair, said SARC is willing to explore a partnership with the city.
“SARC will work with anybody interested in preserving the future of SARC for the benefit of the citizens of Clallam County,” Pickering said.
“We are going to stop and look at alternatives; that is pretty much the consensus of the board.”
The second portion of the plan is for the city to work together with SARC, the county, the city and others to come up with a reasonable financial plan to provide the community with broad-based parks and recreation facilities and programs.
The conversations would include a review of the capital and operating needs for organizations that provide parks and recreation services to the community.
“The important thing . . . is that we have an inclusive, rather than an exclusive, metropolitan park district — one in which SARC is the crown jewel but not the only jewel,” said Councilman Ted Miller.
“We need to have a park district that will also be able to accommodate all of the other recreational users and parks users.”
Another step in the process would be for the city and county — with other stakeholder input — to prepare interlocal agreements that outline the details of the proposed metropolitan park district to be submitted to voters.
The agreements would include details about the boundaries, an appointed board, the services and capital facilities to be provided, and an estimated tax rate required to fund the proposed services and facilities.
Higher tax rate
A more broad-based proposal would require a higher tax rate than the 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed property valuation recommended on the measure defeated Aug. 4, city officials said.
An interlocal agreement would be binding on the city and the county and their respective appointed board members.
Additionally, the three Clallam County commissioners would need to pass a resolution endorsing the placement of the measure on the February ballot in concurrence with a similar city resolution no later than Dec. 7.
Miller called on all stakeholders to work together in a positive manner to bring a new metropolitan parks district to fruition.
“I hope we can reach an accommodation here because without unanimous approval by SARC and the various recreation groups and the City Council, we are never going to get the voters to approve an MPD,” he said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
