The Bainbridge Island Metro Park and Recreation District board discussed the goals and objectives that it will establish for the next 20 years with its Comprehensive Plan at its Sept. 18 meeting.

Consultant Hope Freije, urban designer with Framework, explained that the goals and objectives section of the Comprehensive Plan is “kind of the other side of the coin from level of service.”

“They are both direction-setting, but while level of service is more quantitative, goals and objectives are more qualitative,” Freije said. “Both sections are informed by public engagement, demographics, inventory, and benchmarking, and they will both inform implementation.”

The district issued a public survey and held stakeholder meetings over the summer to collect input from Bainbridge Island park users about what improvements, updates or continued programming they’d like to see going into the next two decades.

Many respondents expressed appreciation for the natural resources stewarded by the park district, and said that increased trail connectivity and access to recreational shorelines were among their top priorities. Continued natural resource management and restoration were also common themes.

But when the district outlines its goals in the Comprehensive Plan, it won’t just consider its own facilities and property — the goals will reflect the availability and quality of all recreation and open spaces on the island. Roles for the district’s partner organizations, such as the BI Land Trust, the Bloedel Reserve, sports clubs and more, will need to be defined, and objectives will help break down how the district will work toward those goals, Freije explained.

At the meeting, Parks Commissioner Dawn Janow suggested that the district make continued improvements for access to programming for populations that may have barriers to participation. By nurturing new and existing partnerships, planning for additional funding sources, working with community groups and determining appropriate programming, capacity could be increased, she explained.

“Planning for the impacts of future population growth on facility capacity has been on my mind,” added commissioner Tom Swolgaard.

The parks board reviewed a draft of the Comprehensive Plan’s goals and objectives and discussed it at its Oct. 2 meeting.