Commissioners back two park grant awards; Riverside item to be cost-reimbursed

Cowlitz County staff presented two Rural County Public Facilities applications Monday and recommended awards conditioned on contract terms and cash-flow constraints. The first application came from the Rotary Foundation of Woodland for Scott Hill Park and Sports Complex. The foundation requested $550,000 to complete phase 1 and indicated an additional $790,000 request to start phase 2; staff said they would ask the applicant to submit a separate application for phase 2. Staff estimated phase 1 could be operational by April 2026 if funded. The second application was for a Riverside Park legacy play area submitted by the county’s parks and recreation department. The total project is roughly $1.05 million; the department has an RCO (Recreation and Conservation Office) Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program grant award of $500,000 and requested $523,000 from the rural facilities fund to cover the local share. Finance staff told commissioners that funding both requests immediately would reduce the rural facilities cash balance close to or under $1 million by year-end and recommended structuring Riverside as a cost-reimbursement contract to allow parks to first use Cook Ferry dredged-spoil proceeds and other sources. Commissioner Dahl said he supported funding Scott Hill’s phase 1 and the Riverside request on a reimbursement basis; staff said contracts would return to the board for final approval at the Aug. 19 meeting.