Our own Jim Haugen, the Lake Stevens Parks Coordinator giving club members an update on all of the parks in Lake Stevens this past Friday, July 7th.
Jim has been on the job for the past 9 months under a 2 year contract with a 1 year option. Lake Stevens is under-parked for the size of our city according to Jim.
The Skateboard Park at Cavelero in the process of permitting will be the largest skateboard park in the area with basketball and 2 volley ball courts planned for Phase 2. The Club has $20,000 available to be used in the park. More to follow on the Skateboard Park plan at Cavelero.
Eagle Ridge Park is a 28 acre site with the most recent addition of a Community Garden. Work parties will be putting on the final touches this week-end and next with the possibility of more time needed to finish the Community Garden. There will be 65 garden beds and will be the largest community garden in the county. Twenty three beds have been completed.
Lundeen Park is really wide open now and enjoying tremendous use of the park. Next year, the city will install an irrigation system. The bark area spread by our club members has improved the look of the park and so far there have been 5 weddings at the park. What a change the park has undergone the past couple of years from little use to almost full capacity each week-end and during the summer days.
Frontier Heights is an 8 acre site owned by a homeowners association.The park was built in the 70's. The homeowners association has been unable to maintain the park. Currently the homeowners association wants to transfer the park to the city. In order to do so, they need 177 votes of the homeowners out of a 265 homeowners association. If approved by the homeowners association, the park will be transferred to the city. The city will upgrade parking, adding 70+ parking sites and making the park more useful for residents.
North Cove Park - the 1 1/2 acre park is undergoing a huge transformation. The old City Hall will be removed in August. The Williams Property will be taken over as soon as possible. The hillside will be lowered so that the public can view the lake from Jay's Market. There is the possibility of putting in a water tower to capture the past, a huge pavilion that will be the site of future AquaFest vendors. The War Memorial will be moved to a new site. A new spray-park will be part of the revised North Cove Park. All very exciting possibilities for downtown renewal.
At this point, Mayor John Spencer spoke about the aerator being replaced and removed from the lake. Once the iron in the lake declined, the aerator stopped working and came to the end of its useful life. The lake is the largest lake in Snohomish County. As an alternative to the aerator, the city is using alum to control phosphorus. The alum creates a bottom coating that makes algae unavailable for growth.
The City is looking for new land to build additional parks. And, the City is talking to the Lake Stevens School District about park use and build out in the future. Thanks Jim for a great presentation.