Members of the newly created Orcas Island Park and Rec District are trying to speak softly. The size of their stick is yet to be determined.
“We rolled in on a huge wave of good will … the public spoke and said, ‘Yeah, a rec district, that’s great’,” said rec commissioner Ian Lister.
Added commissioner Bob Eagan, “We’re an infant organization and we want to – through diligence – do what the community wants us to do, not overstepping our bounds.”
Lister said the district’s first board meeting on Jan. 14 served mainly to lay groundwork for the future.
“We’re not ready for key decisions,” Lister said. “It was very primary in forming our commission. We selected officers from the board of five commissioners, and we came up with 12 by-laws that are very general.”
“Really our task at hand is to figure out what’s needed in the community and to put it together through public meetings and planning,” Eagan said.
According to Lister, Tony Ghazel, OIPS Board Director, advised the commissioners not to be in a hurry, and to “do it right.”
Three representatives for the Buck Park Tennis Set commented that the tennis court needs resurfacing. Maintenance of the tennis court is included in the recent school bond proposal.
Pete Rose, San Juan County Administrator, expressed his desire that the park and rec district take over the reins of the Orcas Rec Program as soon as possible. The commission, however, was concerned about the county’s future support and maintenance of the Village Green, and the Eastsound Waterfront Park.
Rose was able to assure the commission that, thanks to the recent levy lid lift, support for these facilities is planned through at least 2015.
The board queried San Juan County Parks director Donna Wuthnow and Rose about what levels of service to expect.
“We want to understand the county baseline and make sure we’re not overlapping. Public funds are already allocated to many areas,” Lister said.
“We don’t want to double-dip on tax payers if they’re already paying a tax to take care of something,” Eagan said.
The commissioners also discussed whether there is a disparity between how much Orcas Island pays to the county through sales, property, and hotel-motel taxes, and the benefits Orcas receives from the county in return. Rose referred to this issue as “sub-area equity.”
“That’s an onion that we want to peel back,” said Eagan. “I’d probably try to lobby that to my councilmen. I don’t know if we’re going to want to fight that battle on the sub-area equity. At the next meeting we’ll be getting specific on what we’ll be looking into.”
