Fife opens Fountain Memorial nominations; applications due Feb. 28 with final selection in June

Nominations for the Fife Fountain Memorial opened Jan. 31 and will remain open through Feb. 28, staff told the Parks Advisory Board on Feb. 5.

Marta, a city parks staff member, said the program has been advertised on the city’s social media, the biweekly e-newsletter and the upcoming parks magazine. She told the board that a planning commission member indicated intent to submit a nomination but that, as of the Feb. 5 meeting, no official nominations had been received. Marta said staff will reach out to last year’s applicants who were not selected and encourage them to reapply.

Board members discussed whether to schedule a short break during the meeting where nominees present so the board could deliberate privately afterward; staff clarified that, because this is a public meeting, the board may build a short agenda break following presentations but cannot exclude the public and may not privately deliberate. One option discussed was to hear presentations, take a 15-minute break to allow attendees to exit before a public deliberation, and then return for discussion. Another option floated was postponing the decision to the next regular meeting; some board members preferred delaying the vote so members could deliberate away from the full audience.

A citizen in public comment, Lewis Wolfram, asked for the nomination closing date; staff confirmed the deadline is Friday, Feb. 28. Staff also said the Fountain Memorial event is usually the first Thursday in June and that the city’s calendar shows the event on June 5 this year.

Staff said nominations will remain open until the Feb. 28 deadline and that the board will discuss the nominations at the March meeting, with the board planning to incorporate a break in March’s agenda to accommodate presentations and deliberation.