Mattawa continues work on parks and rec plan

MATTAWA — Thursday’s regular Mattawa City Council meeting featured an update from SCJ Alliance regarding the city’s ongoing Parks, Recreation and Open Space plan, which will help the city plan its future parks projects and obtain funding for those projects.

SCJ Alliance Contract Planner Rachelle Bradley presented the plan during the meeting.

“That's what we're ultimately trying to get to the Recreation and Conservation Office,” she said. “We're trying to get you in compliance with them and have an eligible comprehensive parks plan submitted and approved so that you can get this capital funding.”

Bradley said SCJ Alliance has done a community profile, looked at demographics and the city’s current parks and recreation offerings and gathered community feedback on future projects. 

“(We looked) at your current parks and acreage and trails that you have, and we established a level of service for how many acres that you will need,” Bradley said. “We're gonna submit the draft PROS plan to RCO on March 1 to make you eligible for funding, and after that, we'll refine the projects that are identified through this process and the engagement that we've heard.”

According to the plan, the city has a current need of about 40 acres of parks or recreation land, and a future land need of about 96 acres, accounting for growth estimates. Bradley said the numbers are based on a national standard and population statistics.

“You're expected to grow by quite a lot of people, and with that means additional park space,” she said. “What you currently have and what will be needed in the future is (a difference of) about 88 acres … It doesn't necessarily have to be outdoor-only, it can be indoor. So that's what we're really looking at and we're trying to figure out how we can put some projects and put some thoughts to paper, essentially, so that we can get you to where you need to be.”

SJC Alliance conducted an in-person visioning workshop to gather feedback from the community.

“We didn't get a whole lot of people there, so we decided, ‘We're gonna do it online, see how that goes,’” Bradley said. “The first period it was open, we only had about 50 respondents and we were really looking for more … We extended it another week, and we got 170 respondents, which is awesome. That's actually pretty close to what we had for the comprehensive plan, and we had quite a lot of youth again…They're the ones that are going to be using a lot of these facilities as well. We heard quite a lot from kids that were 20 years and younger, and then we also heard quite a lot from people aged 30 to 39, as well, so we had a pretty good mix, actually for these survey results.”

Bradley said SCJ Alliance focused on four themes based on the feedback from the workshops and surveys.

“We've got kind of these four core topic areas or themes, and they are safety, culture, belonging and health,” she said. “So, these four things are really going to inform how we prioritize and think about the projects and what projects are occurring in Mattawa.”

Bradley also outlined the specific projects the community expressed interest in.

“The ones we heard the most were a spray park and swimming pool, outdoor soccer or lacrosse fields, indoor basketball courts, other athletic sports fields — that includes tennis as well, or tennis courts — and then playgrounds,” Bradley said. “Building on that, with the visioning workshop that we did in person we heard a preference for restrooms, like permanent restrooms, an outdoor amphitheater, so like an outdoor gathering space, increased lighting for safety, inclusive facilities and programming, playgrounds, athletic fields and community gardens.”

Many responses also mentioned a need for more accessible bathrooms, more trees, a walking trail and an increase in the programs and services offered by the Mattawa Public Library in Hund Memorial Park, Bradley said. 

Bradley then asked the council which projects are most important based on feedback the council has received. Council member Antonio Acosta gave three projects that the other council members agreed with.

“Bathrooms, a soccer field and a splash pad are probably pretty tied up there in the first place,” he said. 

Bradley said the PROS plan requires both short and long-term planning.

“We have these long-range plans, but there need to be those interim decisions, or incremental decisions or actions that are taken because 80 acres is a lot for the city to try to acquire or find,” she said.

Overall, the feedback process was a success, Bradley said. 

“I just want you guys to know that you have the coolest community ever and they're so great about sharing their feedback,” she said. “I just think that positive attitude is really awesome and having all the feedback that we did is going to help establish a really great vision for the future of Mattawa’s parks.”

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. 

    SCJ Alliance planners are in the process of creating Mattawa’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space plan, which will help obtain funding for future park projects. Pictured is a basketball court in Mattawa’s Hund Memorial Park.