MEDICAL LAKE – The city is developing a new master parks and recreation plan.
Parks Direcgtor Glen Horton shared some insights about the plan last week.
“A master plan is a great summarization of what the residents of Medical Lake want to see the Parks and Recreation Department offer and expand in the future,” Horton said. “The parks and recreation master plan is also required to apply for certain grants.”
The parks department surveyed city residents to get their input on what they’d like to see in the future.
“Input from the community is vital for planning the department’s future,” Horton said. “We could plan everything ourselves based off purely our own interests and loose the support of the community because it is not what they want.”
Community input allows the department to get more varied results, and can lead to creative ideas for the development of the city’s parks as well as events, he said.
“We have a wide variety of opportunities available in Medical Lake with our diverse landscape and natural environment,” Horton said.
When asked about what challenges the city will face with parks, Horton said it will come down to finding qualified staff and funding.
“Luckily for the Medical Lake area, we have an abundance of natural resources that we are able to use for programming,” he said.
Horton also said a master park plan is a part of a larger comprehensive plan for the city.
“A comprehensive plan articulates a series of goals, objectives, policies, actions, and standards that are intended to guide the day-to-day decisions of elected officials and local government staff,” Horton said.
There are steps in the plan to classify and design parks, create a parks inventory, address bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and to create a parks and recreation demands and needs assessment.
“We want our participants to remember programs that they participated in. Lifelong friendships, memories, and community bonding are all huge goals for us,” Horton said.
“Running great programs not only helps keep participants in them and builds trust from our residents, but it also helps us gain employees in the future.”
Clare is an Eastern Washington University graduate and a reporter at Free Press Publishing.
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