I attended July’s meeting of the Parks commission as a guest. I heard information on:
1. Lori Guilfoyle speaking on the Youth Initiative, which supports Kent’s youth to keep them out of trouble.
2. Proposed sale of the Naden property, which is listed in Appendix J of the Parks and open space plan. This is property Kent purchased for a pool.
3. The leased land the skate park is on. The railroad is renegotiating the lease. Previous year’s rent $1,800; next year $5,000; in four years $30,000. Yikes. Kent staff will try and negotiate more favorable terms.
Having the Parks Commission is awesome. They quickly saw the threat to the skate park if the lease cannot be favorably negotiated and put forth the idea to retain part of the Naden property for a skate park.
If you care about the skate park and care about activities for youth, email Mayor Cooke at mayor@kentwa.gov.
Cooke is putting together budget recommendations for the next two years. Mention supporting the parks, too. The current underfunding of the park system is kinda like having your household go without Target for the next two years. You can get by without paper towels and chocolate, but would you want to?
– Anita Veen
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