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Committee approves shift of $400,000 from parks development pot to Brownfields assessment fund
Summary
The Washington County Land Use and Planning Committee voted to transfer $400,000 from the county’s parks development fund into the Brownfields environmental assessment fund and move the remainder into the county capital improvement plan.
The Washington County Land Use and Planning Committee on an oral vote approved a resolution to move $400,000 from the county parks development fund into the Brownfields environmental assessment fund and to place the remaining balance of that account into the county capital improvement plan.
Committee staff told members the parks development fund currently has about $548,000. Under the resolution, $400,000 would be shifted to the Brownfields assessment fund to support environmental assessments; the leftover balance would be transferred to offset costs in the countywide capital improvement plan and effectively close the parks development fund.
Aaron Dahl, a staff member who presented the item, said earlier capital improvement plans had allocated dollars to trails implementation and that the fund was originally intended as a match source for high-priority trail corridors from the county bikeway/trail network planning effort. He said that because the trail implementation program “never came to fruition” and because state requirements and other hurdles limited use of those dollars, county staff now recommend using the funds for Brownfields assessments.
Supervisors pressed staff about whether ongoing or planned parks projects such as Glacier Hills Park expansion could still be funded. Staff replied the money could be used for parks projects in principle, but once the parks development fund is closed the county would use the CIP and other “pots” for future allocations. A committee member noted the county board had previously set aside implementation funding for trail projects and that undoing the fund requires the board’s approval; staff confirmed the board-level action is a two-thirds vote.
The resolution was moved on the agenda by Supervisor Brian Krebs. The committee took a voice vote; the chair called for ayes and recorded the measure as approved.
The committee did not discuss detailed vote tallies by name during the recorded roll call.
Implementation and next steps: staff said the transfer will close the designated parks development account and that the Brownfields program is a county priority. Any future park or trail projects that need matching funds would be advanced through the CIP or other funding sources instead of the closed parks development fund.
Ending: The committee moved on to other agenda items following the vote.
