Chelan City Council addresses issues at Don Morse Park

CHELAN - After three long weeks of not meeting, the Chelan City Council gathered at Council Chambers on July 9 to get caught up with city’s business.

On the evening’s agenda was the proposed agreement with Prothman consulting firm for the recruitment of a Chelan Park and Recreation Director. City Administrator Mike Jackson gave a brief report to the council of the proposal. “Prothman has proposed and we have discussed a hybrid process,” explained Jackson. Under this process, Prothman will be in charge of advertising and sending out individual letters, make phone calls to candidates and have a Skype interview - with the goal of making top candidate recommendations to the city.  “The city will take it from there and schedule interviews and conducting them, plus making the selection,” Jackson added. With the hybrid process the cost for the service will be $10,500 plus other fees.

Prothman has also worked on revising the job description for the Parks and Rec Director position. “Primarily, we have tried to focus on the fiscal aspect because a lot of it is managing facilities,” said Jackson. According to Jackson the ideal candidate will be someone with business and management experience. Councilwoman Erin McCardle shared with Jackson that she would want someone that helps the Parks programs grow and accommodate the needs of the community. “It doesn’t seem like we are ever growing with or changing with what the community may need. Whoever we bring in as a Park Director needs a little more elevated strategic visionary capability,” she said. From what she said, Jackson agreed and reassured McCardle that they will incorporate that into the job description.

Jackson will report on this same agenda to the Parks Board during their regular meeting Thursday, July 18. He will also bring forward the skatepark/pumptrack issue, which the Council had the opportunity to comment on at the Tuesday meeting after Jackson gave a short recap of the public meeting last June. Since then, Jackson has been in contact with American Ramp Company (ARC). Jackson presented three possible options to move forward with the design concept.  

1. Design a pumptrack next to the existing skate park at Don Morse Park -  this would include a Phase 2 to incorporate components above ground to the current skate park. However, this option removes the majority of green space in the area.

2. The option includes a hybrid park  with an asphalt pumptrack and a concrete skatepark - which is the option ARC is leaning towards.

3. Option three involves creating a design for a future park in a different location.

Councilwoman McCardle suggested that ARC should take a look at the space where the basketball courts currently sit, plus an additional space adjacent to that area. “That little corner between the bathroom and the shelter is an area that is flooded and muddy all the time and nobody hangs out there,” McCardle explained to Jackson. She also mentioned that the basketball courts could then be moved to the current skatepark location and perhaps expand the number of courts.

The council agreed that the priority right now is to renovate the skatepark based on the feedback that has been received by community members.

“We need to continue to be relevant for the people of our community ... I totally agree with putting in our resources to work on the skatepark first but not letting it end there. We have to make sure we have a plan moving forward to accommodate these other uses,” said Councilwoman Kelly Allen. Along with that, Allen said she likes the idea of looking into the basketball space. On the other hand, Councilman Tim Hollingsworth expressed his concern with parking at Don Morse and how that will affect the skatepark facility once the demand is higher. “Don Morse might be the ideal spot ... during the summer people tend to stay away from it because it’s crowded and busy,” he said. Jackson will go back to ARC and provide them with the comments from council that they can take into consideration.