Bainbridge Island Metro Parks and Recreation District has picked a preferred route for the Sound to Olympics Trail through Sakai Park.

Acting executive director Dan Hamlin said staff has picked Alternative 1 as most of the tree screening will be preserved, and there is a lot less impact on wetlands and the recreational trail on the west side of the pond.

City engineer Peter Corelis talked to park commissioners about the options at their recent meeting.

Alternative 1 is on the east side of the pond and stays entirely within the state Department of Transportation right of way, city property and park district property. Alternative 2 is longer and on the west side of the pond. That one is in more wetland, wetland buffer, and stream buffer and therefore there is a higher amount of mitigation that would be needed, and it is almost double the cost.

COBI also prefers Alternative 1, park documents say.

Commissioner Ken DeWitt asked how many trees would have to be removed for Alternative 1. Corelis said that the tree count has not been done yet. DeWitt said one of the concerns of the board has been the removal of screening for Sakai Park and he asked if in both alternatives the plan is to pave the trail. Corelis said yes.

Commissioner Tom Goodlin said it is pretty clear that for Sakai Park Alternative 1 is an easy choice due to less mitigation, less impact, maybe less elevation change, and because there is a need to get easements for Alternative 2.

The project scope was the 20% design for the Sakai Park route for the STO and the 20% design and planning level/conceptual alignments from Madison Avenue to the bridge, which is all focused on the west side of Highway 305.

Pool update

Commissioners approved spending $2.5 million from reserves and the Capital Improvement Fund, with the balance of the estimated $5.5 million cost to be funded through a combination of fundraising, grants and loans.

DeWitt said tonight is about fixing the pool, at the next board meeting there can be a bigger discussion about enlarging and deepening the pool.

The board still is looking at adding two lanes and depth to increase its capacity and make it better for swimming and water polo. The pool can be fixed, or it can be fixed and improved, district papers say.

Planning costs are not included in the estimate. Goals for funding are to keep reserves above the $2.4 million mark, which is needed for operations. Commissioner Dawn Janow noted that the district has been saving money for this project over the years and reserves are at about $7 million.

Aquatic Program administrator Jenette Reneau said staff plans to use the BI Recreation Center pool and maximize use of the Don Nakata pool at the Aquatic Center during construction closures. She has also started talks with off-site locations.

Short shorts

Parks will sign a lease with Enterprise for 10 trucks through 2024. The parks policy manual has not been updated since 2017 so it will be reviewed. The park district is going to have a hiring fair April 15 from 2-6 p.m. at the Aquatic Center. The BI Swim Club is setting team records. Gymnastics Open Play Time is being offered again on Saturdays due to increased staffing. The summer recreation catalog will be viewable online April 5 with the first day of registration May 4.

There are a lot of activities planned for Earth month. Staff is gearing up with the city for work on the farm trail. The grounds crew is wrapping up spring preparations by pruning orchards and mulching flower beds. The Strawberry Hill Park tree thinning project is complete. Work is being done at Williams-Olson Park. The permit for the dock extension was received from the city. 115 responses to the recent Ray Williamson pool survey have been received. At upper Fort Ward Park Feb. 17 there was a trail work party with 17 people. On Feb. 19 the BI Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association work party had over 100 people.

Also, commissioners OK’d $260,000 to be paid to the Kitsap County clerk for land condemnation of the Comcast property. The district has taken possession of the property, and staff has taken steps to keep the building from deteriorating further.

Public comments

Trails director Barb Trafton spoke on behalf of the BI Parks & Trails Foundation to say that it is excited to move forward with the STO trail planning. BIPTF donated $50,000 to the city to advance the alignment plan and was successful this year in helping with the Puget Sound to Pacific federal RAISE grant. The foundation is hoping BI can plan quickly so it can get some STO trail projects in another grant application.

Caty Kehs said she depends on the park district to provide quality programs that are dependable, but the chess program she relied on for her son for after-school programming was irresponsibly canceled 20 minutes before school was dismissed. Christy Rice was upset about the same thing.

Hilde Chichester was involved in the walking program with Mark Cohen and is disappointed he will no longer be leading it. However, the program will continue.

Edith Cobourn asked that the district not permanently change the tennis courts to pickleball courts at Battle Point Park for at least a year. Hamlin replied that permits will be submitted soon for the new tennis courts at Sakai Park, and the project is still on target for spring/summer construction.