City of Newcastle, WA -- Parks Commission Meeting of January 9th, 2013:
(Updated: Editor corrected spelling of the word "unanimous," among other grammatical changes or re-phrasing of sentences.)
Andrew Shelton, who has been on the Newcastle Parks Commission for 9 years, since the era that Newcastle was first incorporated, will be resigning (N.P.R. does not know when the resignation will take effect). After Parks Chairwoman Diane Lewis announced his intended resignation, there was a round of applause in appreciation for Shelton's long years of service to the city from other commissioners and the sparsely attended audience.
Parks Manager Michael Holly discussed plans for a major and apparently county-managed pedestrian trail on the south side of I-90, among a number of other Parks issues mentioned in his initial comments, including a project by an Eagle Scout who is working on a more accessible pathway for Newcastle's historic cemetery (N.P.R. did not hear the name of the Scout who is doing this commendable work, if mentioned, but will seek to get his name at the next Parks meeting).
The main business of the Commission was discussing a work plan for 2013 that will eventually be presented to the Newcastle City Council. The Commission, by a unanimous vote, approved a name change to a section of Highland Trails, as one of the two loops of Highland will be named Heritage in order to make a distinction between the two, and thus less confusion for travelers. N.P.R. believes that the overall trail will still be named Highland, with two separate sub-names for the two loops, but will seek clarification of that change at the next Parks meeting. They also approved a name change for Silven Creek Trail, to just Silven Trail, since there is not actually a "Silven Creek" in existence, although this trail is close to a creek that, presumably, goes by another name. The vote to change that name was also unanimous.
The Parks Commission also voted, 6 - 1 (Craig Belcher dissenting), to change their start time for meetings to 6:15 P.M. (it had been 6:00 P.M.). The change was made to give some commissioners a better chance to get from their day jobs to meetings during peak-time traffic.
Mark Greene, a council candidate, took to the public podium twice, and sought information about the restructuring plans announced by Mayor Rich Crispo at the last City Council meeting. Chairwoman Lewis said that the restructuring concerned the inner workings of the Commission itself, including the possible admittance of some private organizations, including the Newcastle Historical Society, on the Commission through presumably their own representative or commissioner. Lewis gave a short summary of what the restructuring may entail, but it appears that the details will be sketchy until the Newcastle City Council works out a plan (Mayor Rich Crispo, who was in the audience, had earlier said there would be a retreat of some kind. Presumably, this retreat would be the foundation for the planned restructuring). The Commission didn't appear to think that the restructuring -- largely to be implemented by the Council -- would entail any sort of privatization plans, although Lewis did say there had been discussions in the past about some homeowners' associations taking over some little parks, among other apparently minor privatization discussions.
Park Commissioners in Attendance: Chair Diane Lewis, Vice-Chair Angela Ursino, Craig Belcher, Koleen Morris, Peggy Price, Jesse Tam, and Andrew Shelton.
(Updated: Editor corrected spelling of the word "unanimous," among other grammatical changes or re-phrasing of sentences.)
Andrew Shelton, who has been on the Newcastle Parks Commission for 9 years, since the era that Newcastle was first incorporated, will be resigning (N.P.R. does not know when the resignation will take effect). After Parks Chairwoman Diane Lewis announced his intended resignation, there was a round of applause in appreciation for Shelton's long years of service to the city from other commissioners and the sparsely attended audience.
Parks Manager Michael Holly discussed plans for a major and apparently county-managed pedestrian trail on the south side of I-90, among a number of other Parks issues mentioned in his initial comments, including a project by an Eagle Scout who is working on a more accessible pathway for Newcastle's historic cemetery (N.P.R. did not hear the name of the Scout who is doing this commendable work, if mentioned, but will seek to get his name at the next Parks meeting).
The main business of the Commission was discussing a work plan for 2013 that will eventually be presented to the Newcastle City Council. The Commission, by a unanimous vote, approved a name change to a section of Highland Trails, as one of the two loops of Highland will be named Heritage in order to make a distinction between the two, and thus less confusion for travelers. N.P.R. believes that the overall trail will still be named Highland, with two separate sub-names for the two loops, but will seek clarification of that change at the next Parks meeting. They also approved a name change for Silven Creek Trail, to just Silven Trail, since there is not actually a "Silven Creek" in existence, although this trail is close to a creek that, presumably, goes by another name. The vote to change that name was also unanimous.
The Parks Commission also voted, 6 - 1 (Craig Belcher dissenting), to change their start time for meetings to 6:15 P.M. (it had been 6:00 P.M.). The change was made to give some commissioners a better chance to get from their day jobs to meetings during peak-time traffic.
Mark Greene, a council candidate, took to the public podium twice, and sought information about the restructuring plans announced by Mayor Rich Crispo at the last City Council meeting. Chairwoman Lewis said that the restructuring concerned the inner workings of the Commission itself, including the possible admittance of some private organizations, including the Newcastle Historical Society, on the Commission through presumably their own representative or commissioner. Lewis gave a short summary of what the restructuring may entail, but it appears that the details will be sketchy until the Newcastle City Council works out a plan (Mayor Rich Crispo, who was in the audience, had earlier said there would be a retreat of some kind. Presumably, this retreat would be the foundation for the planned restructuring). The Commission didn't appear to think that the restructuring -- largely to be implemented by the Council -- would entail any sort of privatization plans, although Lewis did say there had been discussions in the past about some homeowners' associations taking over some little parks, among other apparently minor privatization discussions.
Park Commissioners in Attendance: Chair Diane Lewis, Vice-Chair Angela Ursino, Craig Belcher, Koleen Morris, Peggy Price, Jesse Tam, and Andrew Shelton.
