Planned Lake Street school-site recreation project advances but missed Oregon Parks grant eligibility

Staff updated commissioners on a proposed collaboration with the school district to develop ball fields and a recreation center on the Lake Street site, saying an initial agreement with the school board is in place and the proposal is included in the city’s urban renewal plan. Staff said a wetland delineation for the site had expired and urban renewal funds are being used to pay for a new delineation.

"What Terry's referring to is an agreement with the city and the school district to work together on the Lake Street property that the school owns, to create ball fields and rec center," the staff member said. "We've entered into an initial agreement with the school board, indicating that that will lead to the next step." Staff warned that a planned Oregon Parks and Recreation grant application did not qualify because the recreation district (Southern Valley Rec) did not meet the program's service-area population requirement, which the staff said was under the roughly 10,000-person threshold.

Staff described prior coordination meetings that included city staff, the rec district, the school district and the parks committee. Next steps include completing the wetland delineation funded by urban renewal dollars, confirming the applicant entity for any future grant rounds, and holding follow-up meetings with the involved partners to determine the appropriate path forward.