Starting June 15, the Bainbridge Island Metro Parks & Recreation meetings will be broadcast live on Zoom.
That was announced at their recent meeting. However, there will be no interaction, and the videos will not be recorded. Board meeting audio will continue to be recorded.
Many other items were briefly discussed at the meeting.
Senior planner Matthew Keough said staff is taking the direction to do a community survey very seriously. The staff needs to hear the expertise of a third party to ensure there is no bias. The park district will encourage taxpayers to take the survey but ultimately it is the community’s survey.
After some discussion, it was decided that the board would assess the status of current committees and the need for new committees at the first board meeting in January when committee assignments are typically on the agenda.
Park Services Division director Dan Hamlin said there has been a fair amount of graffiti in parks and the BI Police Department has been responding.
Recreation superintendent Bryan Garoutte said staff is working on the fall catalog; registration will begin Aug. 12. BI Recreation Center pool attendance has been picking up, and the schedule is expanding. The Eagledale Pottery Studio received 6,000 pounds of clay for summer programming.
In other news
■ Commissioner Tom Swolgaard asked about the status of the sail float replacement in Eagle Harbor. Keough said the project must get permission from the Department of Natural Resources and the city of BI as they are the site owners. Staff has been working with them to show their commitment so the Recreation and Conservation Office grant can be secured.
■ Commissioner Dawn Janow said that in the BI Review 98110 newspaper, there is an article on public records requests, and she wants to recognize how much work they are and how much they cost the park district. A good public records request makes sense, but blanket fishing expeditions are harmful on a lot of levels. She also said Aug. 4 is the BI Parks & Trails Foundation fundraiser.
■ Commissioner Tom Goodlin said that the board has been hearing quite a bit about pickleball and tennis at Battle Point Park. It would be nice to hear from staff at some point if there is any update on how the shared courts are going to be handled in the future. Commissioner Jay Kinney said it will be on the agenda for the next board meeting.
