Mattawa developing parks plan
A volleyball player practices, while adults congregate for conversation in Mattawa’s Hund Memorial Park in late July. The city of Mattawa is developing a parks plan to ensure residents have a variety of recreational opportunities in town.
CHERYL SCHWEIZER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Mattawa children play in the water, courtesy of Grant County Fire District 8, at Hund Memorial Park on a hot July afternoon. Mattawa city officials are beginning work on a park plan, and a splash pad could be among the eventual recreation upgrades.
Teens play a game in Hund Memorial Park in Mattawa at the July health fair/community movie night. City officials are beginning work on a plan designed to help upgrade and expand city recreation opportunities.
MATTAWA — Mattawa residents will be asked their preferences for recreation facilities in town as part of the preparation of a parks and open space plan. The city received a grant from the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office to write a plan, the prerequisite to applying for funding for parks projects.
“In order to get funding from RCO for infrastructure projects, you need to have an adopted parks plan,” planner Rachelle Bradley told Mattawa City Council members at the Aug. 3 meeting. “You need to submit that by March 1, 2024, to be eligible for the following years.”
City officials are working on a number of updates to the city’s planning documents, its comprehensive plan among them. Bradley said some needs have been identified already.
‘We know that there is a higher demand for parks and open space than what is available,” she said. “So we’re just going to try and figure out what that gap is.”
Mattawa residents will be asked what they want for recreation facilities, she said. That will help determine what city officials request when they start applying for funding.
“Possibly a splash pad,” Bradley said. “I know that’s something that’s been brought up before.”
“I talked about that when I joined the council in 2004,” council member Brian Berghout said.
In answer to a question from council member Alex Heredia, Bradley said the parks plan would include the land designated for a park when the council approved the annexation of 40 acres near Priest Rapids Drive earlier this year.
“It’s still up to the city to actually develop that land,” Bradley said.
The city does charge a fee to developers, and that money is designated to build parks and other recreation facilities, Bradley said. The park plan will include an inventory of existing parks and an analysis of recreation opportunities that Mattawa residents want but that the city doesn’t have. That will help the city use the fees more efficiently, she said.
“Soccer fields,” Berghout said. “The biggest thing for our community would be having soccer fields for public parks.”
Bradley said the project will include opportunities for residents to give their opinions of what’s needed and what they want.
“We plan on doing some public outreach events, as early as next month if possible,” she said.
Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
