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Inspections highlight accessibility gaps and volunteer caretaking at Ocean Shores parks
Summary
Routine inspections flagged issues at Chinook and Gunderson parks — missing restroom supplies, potholes, inaccessible picnic areas and uncertain lines between city duties and volunteer caretakers — prompting board follow-up to clarify responsibilities.
Members reported a mix of routine maintenance needs and accessibility issues at several Ocean Shores parks during the June 10 Parks Board meeting.
Bill Swort said Chinook Park looked generally good but that restrooms lacked toilet paper and small potholes were forming at the entryway. "They didn't have any toilet paper in the restrooms. Both of them were pretty much empty," Swort said, noting that potholes could worsen with seasonal weather.
Rita Lovie and other board members raised concerns about wheelchair access at Chinook and at Gunderson Park, including picnic tables that sit on small raised concrete platforms that may be difficult for wheelchair users to reach, faded or ripped informational signage, broken benches and a small dead tree near an entrance. Gunderson also has an active group of volunteers who mow, water and otherwise maintain the park; board members said some residents may not be aware of recorded maintenance agreements and the city will investigate which responsibilities are formal and which are volunteer-based.
The board agreed to research formal agreements for citizen-maintained parks (sometimes modeled on Adopt-a-Park arrangements), to ask city staff for clarity on whether maintenance obligations are recorded on title or otherwise documented, and to compile answers for future meetings. "We'll have to get some answers and then we will share and discuss," President Stacey Lynn said.
Next steps: staff and the chair will seek the city's guidance on the extent of recorded caretaker agreements and will report back; members will prioritize repairs that affect accessibility (walkway to water fountain, sign replacement, bench cleaning/painting).
