King County Council's final decision, 10/20 "King County partners with Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association in adjusted-use plan that complements multiple activities at Redmond-area field "
The following is a comment made 10/19 on this blog (here) by Councilmember Kathy Lambert about the pending 60 Acres South decision:
"This is a lease agreement NOT a transfer as was originally proposed several
years ago. The county/citizens maintain ownership and have input on how it is
managed. There will be regular meetings and input to the council on how the
shared usage is being administered. All along the process there have been many
changes to respond to citizen input. In fact there are six more amendments
proposed for Monday's vote that reflect input from the citizens of Valley
Estates. It is difficult to find the balance between countywide usage of an
asset and local usage. The Parks Department does not have the funds to maintain
and improve all the wonderful parks and open space in the county. So they have
developed agreements with many groups to share in the efforts to keep our county
green and open for public usage and exercise. The goal is that the final
agreement is one that will balance all the needs. This ordinance should be
posted online by Wednesday so all can see the many aspects of this agreement. I
hope that soon we will see that with cooperation and teamwork we can all enjoy
the wonderful area of 60 Acres."
-This comment was made on a recent 60 Acres posting to the Redmond Neighborhood Blog on October 19, 2008 11:51 AM , by Kathy Lambert
Kathy's King County Home Webpage is here.
Kathy represents District 3, comprised of: North Bend, Snoqualmie, Issaquah, Sammamish, Redmond, Carnation, Duval, Woodinville and rural county towns and cities.
Ron Sims August 21, 2008 proposal for 60 Acres South Park solution and returning Muller Farm back to active organic farming.
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Looking at the issue from a citizen's perspective -
“King County and the soccer association will use 34 acres of open space to destroy Sixty Acres South as we know it. Instead, they could provide as much soccer play by taking just six (6) acres and building one lighted FieldTurf field and one grass field.” - by Stew Konzan, 10/20
It's too bad Councilmember Lambert continues to disregard the will of her constituents. There is currently an excess of soccer fields, LWYSA already is behind in payments for leased fields from the county, and the environmental damage this will cause are unacceptable. But this council member ignores everything but the almighty dollar. Perhaps she could find a job on Wall Street?
ReplyDeleteAm I missing something here?
ReplyDeleteYour strong feelings for Representative Kathy Lambert could possibly be clouding the intent and meaning of her commentary Take a deep breath and try reading it again.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Lambert and seven fellow members of the Council have eroded the community's rights to this park for at least 30 years - and this is truly irreversible. And, unfortunately, many of Mrs. Lamberts comments on this post, and in Council meetings, are only half accurate.
ReplyDeleteTo suggest this User Agreement creates a shared environment is half true. LWYSA controls the scheduling, and who is allowed active use. During part of the year, they are mandated to give 50-50 access to passive and active, other times, the get up to 75-25 access. What isn't noted is "when". LWYSA, by power of this agreement, can relegate passive users to mid day weekdays Monday through Friday, while soccer can take prime after work and all day weekends - as long as it equals 50% of the time the park is open. So passive park users, I hope you have flexible work hours for 6 months of the year, because soccer will preclude you from use. There is nothing guaranteeing your rights to use the park. Ever. LWYSA can close these fields at will for "repair" as they have done on North for years. There is no balance in this Use Agreement as Mrs. Lambert suggests in her post.
And other athletic users - forget about using this facility. This is not for Lacrosse, or Rugby, or Cricket, or others. The same issues that precluded you from playing on 60 Acres North (cost and it ruins the pristine soccer fields) still exist. Nothing has changed. There is no increased access for you.
Dog walkers, you are not allowed access to the fields either. LWYSA has told us no dogs allowed on the soccer fields becuase of the challenges with "clean up".
There is only minimal accountability for LWYSA in the Use Agreement. Yes, it is true, there will be annual meetings, held by LWYSA, to hear what issues there have been for the last year. Unfortunately, LWYSA has a long history of taking public input very politely, then disregarding it. KC DNRP has a long history of letting them get away with it. They committed to arrange the fields for SASS to fly, then submitted their first proposal to Redmond with the fields arranged so the largest existing user group could not operate there (they have since redone the proposal after public outcry - but their commitment was clearly blown). They committed years ago to take down signs prohibiting access in the off season - it took them almost 2 months. Then they replaced them with larger, bright orange signs this last year with "KEEP OFF" that were up for almost 8 months...
If you do have a complaint, you have to wait until the end of the year meeting, then wait another year to see if they fix it, then if they don't you get to appeal to the Council, who voted in favor of LWYSA and clearly has great respect for them. I hope this is not truly Mrs. Lambert's idea for accountability and transparency in private/public cooperation.
The funds to manage this park "as is" are negligible, and the community and SASS have offered to cover those expenses in previous meetings with the DNRP. If fact, this proposal will cost KC money, because the DNRP has committed to finding another home for SASS, which could cost up to $100,000. To suggest that this has to do with the cost of maintaining 60 Acres South, a field that has to be roughly mowed once a week, is disappointing and inaccurate. (It should also be noted that by "finding another home" that SASS will at best get a 5 year contract after being a great neighbor and steward of this land for over 30 years - and LWYSA, with their track record, gets at 30 year contract).
The interesting issue is that nobody has been able to demonstrate a NEED for more soccer fields. LWYSA's enrolment is down almost 10% since 2003/4. They don't utilize the resources we have in school facilities and city parks. 60 Acres North on Friday afternoon is practically vacant. The only reason there are four teams per field practicing on Tuesday and Thursday weeknights is purely by LWYSA's mismanagement of existing resources. Just an example, SYSA(Seattle) manages more kids through their program, more at risk kids, and does so with out any major complex of their own. Additionally, in LWYSA's traffic study on 60 Acres South, they state week day traffic won't be impacted because there will not be an increase of users. So if there is not an increase of kids, there are existing resources sitting idle, other associations can do more with less... Where is the need?
Interesting, the only increase in use noted in the traffic study would be on the weekends, specifically tournament weekends. The tournaments that LWYSA rents the public fields out to other paying customer to the tune of $30,000 per weekend. None of which goes back to the County coffers. Again, I want to stress here that other soccer associations are able to serve more kids with less resources.
This Use Agreement is heavily weighted in favor of LWYSA, not the public's interest. There has been no quantitative analysis by the KC Council to show need or how this would increase recreation opportunities. There is no real, immediate recourse for those who's rights have been trampled by soccer, with LWYSA being the body that is the first point of contact for issues. LWYSA has a terrible track record with public access on 60 Acres North and upholding their commitment's to change. KC's own Active Sports Youth Recreation (ASPYRE) policy recommendations direct the County to keep Passive and Active recreation "seperate but equal" beccuase the pressures on Active will over run Passive users. Needless to say, I am disappointed in Mrs. Lambert's decision.
I'll end this by noting I am a "soccer dad" in LWYSA. I am out with my son at every practice twice a week and at every game. I am a huge believer in the benefits of youth sports. However,nobody has been able to articulate how this deal increases youth sports opportunities. The only increase I see are in the profitable weekend tournaments for LWYSA. There are some real, creative solutions other have brought to the table that would actually increase youth sport opportunities and leave 60 Acres South intact. They just need the political will. I am not a member of SASS, but have appreciated their stewardship of the land, and their welcoming and "educational" demeanor. I appreciate the diversity of use 60 Acres South brings to our community. It will be sorely missed.