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Parks bond update: commissioners asked to advise on Bellevue farm relocation and other bond projects
Summary
Commissioners were briefed on Parks Bond Oversight work, including upcoming public meetings and a request that the Sustainability Commission provide ideas for relocating a community farm that sits in a flood plain.
Commission members received an update from representatives who sit on the Parks Bond oversight committee and were asked to provide ideas about relocating a small community farm at Bellevue Park because the current site sits in a flood plain.
Logan Dunning and a fellow commissioner said they attended oversight meetings where project managers and department directors discussed bond-funded park improvements. The bond program will fund multiple park projects over several years; oversight staff noted that about 85% of bond funds must be spent within three years for park improvements.
Oversight committee members told the Sustainability Commission that Bellevue Farm — a small farm area near Pirates Cove that has hosted animals and educational programming — sits in a flood plain and will need to be relocated. The oversight committee asked the Sustainability Commission to develop ideas for what could go in the flood plain area where structures are no longer permitted; commissioners were told that architects are looking at alternatives but requested input from this commission.
The Parks Bond oversight team also highlighted other upcoming public engagement opportunities: community meetings for Miller Park on July 15 and Aug. 6 and a public “renew and recreate” design process with several project pages on the Englewood Engaged site. Commissioner representatives said they will continue to report back to the Sustainability Commission and solicit input on native-plant choices and stormwater-sensitive design for the Northwest Greenbelt and other bond projects.
No formal vote was taken on specific design options; commissioners agreed to discuss the Bellevue farm replacement again at the August meeting and to gather site-specific data (including the flood-plain map) before recommending options to the oversight committee.
