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Parks & Rec committee approves revised Shoreline Park welcome garden location and material change
Summary
The Parks & Recreation Committee approved moving the Shoreline Park welcome garden off an easement and switching to cast‑in‑place concrete pathways to reduce maintenance and improve ADA accessibility; designers were asked to consider a north entrance and to address irrigation constraints.
The Skagway Parks & Recreation Committee on Oct. 8 approved a revised concept for the Shoreline Park welcome garden that shifts the planned garden west along the Shoreline Park Trail to avoid placement on an easement and replaces proposed brick pavers with cast‑in‑place concrete for greater durability and improved accessibility.
Chair Spencer Morgan moved for approval of the new location and the material changes, a motion that was seconded and carried by voice assent. The committee asked the design team to add a northern entrance option and to confirm how irrigation and water features would be handled.
Why it matters: the designers said the original site sat partly on property controlled by White Pass and the municipality did not want to build on land it might later lose access to. Staff told the committee that cast‑in‑place concrete pathways would lower lifetime maintenance costs and be more ADA friendly than individual brick pavers, which can heave in local weather.
“At that original site we were over an easement,” a staff member summarized. “We shifted the garden west along the Shoreline Park Trail to eliminate the property conflict.”
Chair Spencer Morgan cautioned the committee that the existing sprinkler system cannot simply be tapped without reducing pressure to the rest of the system. “The sprinkler system was designed with a maximum amount of flow and pressure,” he said, adding that the engineers will need to identify a different way to supply any new water feature or expanded irrigation.
Consultant comments and local suggestions included engineering checks around sprinkler lines and visitor access: speaker Jason Verheg urged designers to add a north entrance so pedestrians leaving the train drop‑off do not create an informal desire path through plantings. The committee also asked that dog‑waste bag station placement be considered for the increased foot traffic the garden will attract.
Next steps: staff will relay the committee’s direction to project manager Tyson and the design team for scope revisions and to confirm final engineering for irrigation and any water features. The motion recorded in the meeting log was to approve the revised location and the material changes.
