Manson community shows support for Leffler Field acquisiton during public forum

MANSON – More than 40 Manson residents gathered at the Manson Grange Wednesday evening to show their full support towards the purchase of Leffler Field.

Before receiving the public’s input, the Manson Park and Recreation District presented their comprehensive plan and went over the five current projects that they are trying to tackle in the near future.

The comprehensive plan is a huge part of being able to get any grants and funding. Manson Park comp plan “defines what the park district is, it defines the area, the responsibilities, how it’s operated, its mission, its goals and basically it is the driving road map for the district,” said funding specialist Kara Raftery of Pacific Engineering, who recently worked on updating the plan.

Manson Park maintains seven parks and one of the major things they are working on at the moment is the Singleton Park playground. Director Robin Pittman mentioned that Singleton Park is a big priority of theirs. ''Right now quotes are running about $100,000. These toys are not cheap, but the toys that are there are getting to the point of not being safe anymore,” she said. A safety report of the playground was done by the Park’s insurance and it is three points away from shutting down.

Another project they are working on is the erosion happening at Willow Point Park. “Along the shoreline there’s land disappearing and that is one of the parks we own,” Pittman said. The Manson Bay Revitalization is another big project. “Right now that’s a standstill. We talked to the PUD and they are doing some asset management right now, so they have asked us to put it on hold for now.”

Starting on April 1, the Chelan County PUD will be working on putting in a step down at the Manson Bay swim area to address kids’ safety. “Based on feedback from the community there’s going to be some hand railings put in,” Pittman added.

From there Pittman proceeded to talk about Leffler Field. “Most of you guys know that the Manson Chamber has been working their tails off as something they want to acquire.” Manson Park had to get involved because a lot of the funding needs to go to a public entity she explained.

“We quickly started looking for money and support, we have letters of support from the Manson School District, Port of Chelan County, Manson Chamber of Commerce and half a million dollars from the Chelan County,” said Manson Chamber Director Jeff Conwell.

Conwell stated that they are waiting to hear back from the State Ways and Means Committee on the half a million dollar ask which might not be approved until April. “It is almost five acres of fun just waiting to happen and for our community to put its footprints all over it,” he said.

In the updated Manson Park Comp Plan, one of the goals is acquisition and land development. “The park district really wants to preserve land for recreation … since the acquisition was identified as a goal Leffler Field is such a great opportunity,” said Raftery.

During the Q&A portion of the forum, Pittman clarified that each of the projects Manson Park is working towards could get funded through different grants. “There are different pots of money for those,” she said. In order to fund the acquisition, Conwell explained that there would be fundraising efforts within the community taking place to cover the remaining costs.

After the presentation concluded, the attendees unanimously voted “yes” to the Leffler Field purchase. At the same time, they voted on their project priorities, Leffler Field acquisition and Singleton playground took majority of the votes.

Talks regarding the acquisition will carry on to the next regular meeting for Manson Park board on March 20 at 4:10 p.m.