And folks online, have you been able to hear us in the room yet?
We just now are able
Just now, yep, thanks.
I was just going to ask the commissioners who are online to introduce themselves to make sure it's working
Sure, I can start. You guys hear me okay?
I did not see your response. Can you guys hear me?
Yeah.
I can, but I'm online.
Anyone in the room?
I think that's a no.
Hold on, John. We're trying to get this figured out. We're having a bit of tech problems.
No worries, thanks.
Right now
John, are you able to go ahead and try and introduce yourself again?
Hi there, can you hear me?
Yep, go ahead, John.
Okay, great. Everybody, I'm John Flynn. I'm the commissioner from District 3.
And I will hand off to Tricia
Hi, I am Trisha Diamond. I am the Commissioner from Boards and commissions.
Appointees, so thank you.
Hello, everybody. My name is Brian Bocker. I am the Get Engaged Commissioner
Rebecca, Elise
Hi, I'm Rebecca. I'm the Commissioner for District 1 West Seattle.
Hi, I'm Elise Chisholm-Claire, Commissioner for District 4
All right, we're working on getting you guys up on the screen here, visible in the room right now. I can see on the laptop, but unfortunately the room can't see you. They can hear you only. So we'll keep working on that. But I wanted to
First address land acknowledgement. So Seattle Parks and Recreation acknowledges and affirms Indigenous Coast Salish people as original caretakers of our waters and landscape
who nurtured and shaped today's parkland. We honor the legacy with gratitude and appreciation, and will safeguard their knowledge and stewardship as enduring treasures to promote community welfare, cultivating inclusive expressions of nature and recreation, and commit to land acknowledgement for each ensuing
generation and then just briefly before I go to public comment for this meeting, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who came to the hearing and who submitted comment online. They all did come into the Commissioners. Thank you very much for that
We're gonna formally close the public hearing on the open hearing on Lower Woodland. We have an agenda item today for SPR staff to present back to the Commission. The Commissioners have a number of questions
And we're going to have a discussion and Q&A with staff and the commission. So thank you everyone who's commented. Thank you all for your comments, and we're looking forward to having a good discussion here today.
With that
Oh, yes, sorry, we have two items on our consent agenda as well. I almost missed that. The meeting minutes from the
This
The July 9th meeting and the agenda for this, meeting.
Is there anyone who has
Injections for the consent agenda.
Stu, hearing none and seeing none, we're going to move forward with the consent agenda.
And consider it adopted. And we will go ahead and move to, public
Comment over
You might need mic. I'm a little louder
And
I have a few things that I wanted to share. Can you speak directly in the mic? Yeah. Yeah, we can accept it. But
We're not going to be probably not be able to reference it, but thank you.
Sure, go ahead.
My name is Chris Stewart, my family speech in 2022.
I suppose it's just north of Madison Beach Park and northwest of the Matthews Beach overflow
It serves as a four hour commuter parking lot and park overflow.
It's used rarely for future parking and typically 4 to 6 times daily for park
largely the lots that's empty.
Unfortunately, it attracts all for the same perspective
In my five years living in Matthew's speech, my household alone has afforded legal junk vehicle storage and encampments more than 50 times. Although these reports have led to short-term improvements, the same issues returned engines.
Over the past year, it's gotten worse. Great growing maintenance preparing for abuse, yelling late into the evening in May 2026, seven gunshots just outside the lot, right near our home.
In November 2025, after eight months of reporting for the Planet Fixit app
reaching out to SPD
Engaging with the expression department. I escalated the issue to Councilmember Rivera's office.
Her staff confirm that the Parks Department, in collaboration with the placeholders and chains once the incentive is cleared.
That never happened and the conditions in the lot at 95th or at standpoint where the Northeast have continued to deteriorate
On July 9th, I started a petition that has received over 500 signatures in 4 weeks, suppressing 3 things from the Barce Department. Number one, meet with the neighborhood representative to understand their concerns. Number two, develop a long-term management strategy for the lot with community input
And number three, implement improvements to prevent reoccurring unauthorized use in the lot.
We understand budgets are tight and this lot is already costing the city of service calls, our cleanups and countless scientific complaints.
We're spending resources reacting to the same problems without saving
Okay, and we're just hoping for a new approach. Parks department, please partner with us to address this chronic public safety issue and return the slide to its intended use. Thank you. Morrison and
I just pronounce this, but after it's going to be Sonya.
Rolling in the clocks
Okay. I'm Kelly Morrison, a resident of Rainier Valley, a member coexist with Washington. I have participated in Bicycle Sundays for 40 years. I'm here to express a very deep concern
Very about the installation of blocked gates on Boulevard of 1.2 mile stretch between Mount Baker Beach and Santares. These are steel gates that are 27 and a half feet wide
For the purpose of keeping cars out of the extra time
However, we could find no S dot I'll step back
Hello, radio days
All right, give me just a little bit more time. We can find no s dot
data
of accidents from cars and participants in this stretch of Lake Washington Boulevard.
And it is being projected in the name of safety. The gates do present new safety hazards. The clearance on one side is only 5 feet. On the other side is the popular pedestrian
walk away
And if you go down, as I have on many bicycle days, there are many of us staring at them, wondering how
are
Walkers, joggers, wheelchairs, baby strollers, scooters, skaters, mortars, and bikes
going to get around these
And unfortunately, where the gates have been located and installed
add to the risk of interacting with
with cars at Navigo Beach 5 min.
That could be true. Okay, gee, that's so short.
So I will end with
My concern of how a project like this on public property
parked property. A key material has been rubber stamped
Because of the influence of the bike lobby. and it can't be ignored. We deserve other projects have required so much scrutiny
And that's what we're asking of you
I could say that again if it doesn't echo. So please look at this. We will send you the follow up information.
Diana Campbell, if I'm pronouncing that right.
Hello
My name is Sonya Kimball, and I am a student at Lincoln High School and the captain of the girls squad football team
I'm here today to discuss the importance of my high school, the most populated high school in the entire metro area, finally getting a home field built.
Every other school in the area has a home field where they can practice, compete, and host games.
We don't. And that hurts us in more ways than you might think. As a black football player, I have felt this pain personally in many ways.
This last year, after a long season of hard work, our team managed to end the Metro season with a nearly perfect record. But despite this, our seeding this year in the state tournament was set lower than it should have been because our schools couldn't host any home games.
This drawback to cause a serious obstacle for our team, and we had to play all away games and fight much harder than any other school, who were by record less deserving.
Including not getting an opening round five
We ended our season in the state championships in quite dramatic fashion, and after playing back-to-back games that, keep in mind, shouldn't have been necessary, we lost to a team in the last second of the game
Now there's no one to blame but ourselves for losing that game, but as players, it most definitely ran through all of our minds what we could have accomplished if we didn't waste our energy playing a soy extra game of Orient.
On top of that, organizing practices both during summer and winter is incredibly difficult without our own food
Other schools get to hold regular, consistent practices on their own turf, which gives them a big advantage when the season starts. We, on the other hand, have to scramble to find places to practice, which makes it much harder to build a team and improve.
We often have to share space with ref and club teams and are far from any locker room when the winter rain hits.
Having a field close by would mean more fans from school that can easily come to games, which would really boost the camaraderie and spirit of Lincoln High School.
In my fourth year, now playing flag football, I have never had a home game filled with my friends, family, and schoolmates cheering me on. Not once.
We have the biggest student body in the metro area, so it only makes sense that we have the facilities to match that.
A home field would not only help our Black football team, but benefit countless other sports and encourage more students to get active and involved. It's not just about my team and the other teams represented here today, it's about the thousands of kids in the next 10 or 20 years that will pass through Lincoln High School in the same boat as my
We deserve an accessible place to work hard, a place where our hard work receives the payoff it deserves and a place to call our own. Thank you.
Kim Tennigan
Okay, move to the next person. Kimberly Larson
Okay
Chris
George, maybe.
Got it
Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for listening to our neighborhood today. I'm here as a Matthew Speech resident, and most importantly, as a mom of two young kids
For me, this issue with the safety of the overflow lot at Matthews Beach Park
It's about whether or not I can safely walk, drive, or take the bus with my children. The conditions of the lot, as you heard from Chris, have become increasingly unsafe over the past few years, despite numerous attempts far and wide across our neighborhood to be in touch with the city through all the
that we have available to us, which is how we ended up here today.
The bus stop nearest my home is located along the edge of this lot, and it has become unsafe for us to access.
As a mom of two young bus lovers who avidly take public transit in every city we visit, and who used to be a one-car family prior to moving to this neighborhood.
incredibly sad to me that we can't use the bus that's closest to our home.
But even driving past where we drive every single day, we are not insulated from the impact of this unmanaged lot.
The impact has been especially significant right now over the past month, while construction has closed off 95th Street just across the street. Unfortunately, the encampment junk and vehicles block the overflow lot in a way that makes it impossible to turn around in a way
Okay, turn around if you've missed the turn on to 95th Street due to the closure. This leads to awkward and unsafe traffic flowing in and out of the lot, dangerously backing up on standpoint way
To me, this moment has been especially frustrating because there currently is a practical use potentially for this lot as a safe way for us to turn around during this ongoing construction
However, the lot can't even serve as a safe place
For construction traffic.
I'm frankly disappointed that after all this time, we're now hearing some elements of disagreement about who's responsible for the lot, whether it's Seattle Park, or whether maybe, according to an email this past week, is it actually SDOT? After years of reporting?
Our families should not be caught in the middle of a question about jurisdiction. This is a safety problem that needs attention now. We won't sit idly by while shootings, fireworks and other unsafe activity occur in this lot while the city plays a game of potato
We're asking for an immediate coordinated response that involves the permanent closure of the lot
With the exception of sanctuary departments such as Polar Plunge on New Year's Day, or maybe for construction work in the area, we need the space managed now for the safety of our children, our neighbors, and everyone trying to get through this area safely. Thank you.
Eric Peterson
After the break
So I'm in residential a lot.
It's adjacent to the parking situation. I'm building a house just
Just through the woods. I'm just terribly concerned about fault safety stuff and APA suspension. Yeah, sorry.
Yeah, so I'm concerned with all the stuff that he had mentioned that chair, but also just
Building a house Exodus encampment is especially stressful
It's basically a tinder box. Lots of wood, dried woods in between the parking lot in my house and the camper has like haphazardly wired batteries and
grinding wheels and other things that create a fire. So that's one particular thing. I'm just here to point out
So
Thank you.
I'm not gonna try. It's okay. It's
Okay. And I brought some stuff off printed out most of what I would say plus some maps. Okay, so my name is Sally Misra. It's easier than it pronounced it's easier. I started working at NOAA at Sandpoint in 1979. I'm a whale biologist. I worked with the Fisheries Service
For 38 years, I've retired. I've lived in the neighborhood since 1980 condos across the street and then on Northeast, all these guys since 1986. So I've seen that lot be mostly used to be useful
And in the recently, over recent times, there's been that persistent RV. Some of the people that live nearby know the ins and outs of the neighbors
We got a block party, one of the people that came to the block party were witness the shooting
the seven shots fired right in front of their house, right next to the right next to the overflow parking. It is a fish and wildlife habitat conservation area
I'm a biologist. I work with the Sandpoint Community Liaison Committee that was formed because of the base realignment and Closure Act
for McMagnesley Park from the base. I have a long history with this stuff. Does wildlife habitat conservation area. I have maps for you guys. So in addition to the safety issues that make it unsafe to use the lot, walk through the lot, we have to walk along the street
can't use the buses. It is a Habitat conservation area. I think that's all we need to say. Everybody else said everything fine. I'm going to hand this over, and you can see maps and a short description. Thank you.
Well, I have signed up for public comment.
Yep.
Okay.
Hi, I'm Joyce Modi, and I'm a member of Coexist Lake Washington, advocating for equity in bicycle weekends on Lake Washington Boulevard and Olmstead Legacy.
Southeast Seattle has hosted Bicycle Sundays and weekends for more than three decades. This summer, it is closed to cars every weekend for the entire summer
Coexist recommends a more equitable formula, return to the 2025 schedule of two weekends a month on Lake Washington Boulevard and rotate to other neighborhoods for the rest of the month
Some powerful bike lobbyists working to take over Lake Washington Boulevard and Mount Baker Beach to Seward Park and close it to cars permanently. This privatization of a public boulevard for a selected few is discriminatory to people
And only enjoy the boulevard for the park. People with disabilities, elders, and physical limitations, caregivers, and those who can no longer ride a bike
Lastly, the Park Department has allowed the Department of Transportation to cover a 3 mile stretch from Mount Paper Beach to Seward Park with excessive paint plastic reflectors, cement curbs, redundant signs
planters have speed bumps that makes it feel like a roller coaster.
This is the result of a traffic calming task force conducted in 2024, the classic quality of this Olmstead Boulevard is compromised. Don't let it happen to the rest of our boulevards. Keep Lake Washington Boulevard open for everyone to enjoy, not just the privileged theater
Hello, my name is Michael Lock, and I'm the co-president of the Lincoln High School PTSA. I'm a parent of two Lincoln students, and also I've lived in the neighborhood of Woodland Park for more than 20 years, and I care deeply about this park. I'm here tonight, not surprisingly, to ask you to move forward with the renovation of
track at field number 7 and begin the environmental review for the proposed full size athletic field at Gibbid Aurora. I want to just briefly present 3 reasons why first, and I know you have heard significant comments and testimony already about the impact that this is having on our students
Spending three and a half to four hours every evening just weekend practice is simply not healthy nor sustainable for our kids. A nearby full-sized field would change that, conveniently change that.
Second, we've spent years evaluating alternatives after Sps plans at Wallingford Playfield
or halted SPS conducted a thorough regional assessment and identified lower Woodland Park as the best location. Multiple concepts have embedded hundreds of comments have been provided and SPS has recommended a full-size field at 50th and Auror
There are no better options at this point. It's simply time to move forward with what voters supported. They approved in the levy to fund this project.
Third, this is a historic opportunity to activate an underutilized part of the Bend Park. The area in question is largely a gravel lot, as I know you know. I walk through this daily. There are usually just several cars in the parking lot and oftentimes more tents
Converting this inactive space into a vibrant athletic field would create a safe, welcoming, and high value community resource used by future generations and thousands of residents
Third, this project aligns directly with Seattle Parks and Recreation strategic plan, priority actions, both emphasizing activating parks, responding to community needs
expanding equitable access and creating safer and more welcoming spaces. This project does all of that, transforming a little used area into an inclusive community serving asset
Finally, what we're asking tonight is simply to move the process to the next step. Environmental review exists to evaluate impacts and identify mitigation strategies.
That's allowed SEPA process to function as intended, ensure that decisions are based on facts, not on verified time. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Sorry, I don't have any. It doesn't matter. We don't want to see what I've got. And the same stuff is happening down at Denny Lane Park. We're trying to
You don't want to hear me at public comment about what happens here. That is not true. You've heard me extensively. I signed up for it. I'm sorry. Do you want me to send this again? Should I talk to the lawyers for gambling for all? I'm sorry. Wow
Wow
I don't have been signing up, I'm sorry.
That's another male in the coffin. So that's great. You guys don't want to hear by coming to these meetings. It goes on in the park
Nobody cares. It happens daily. I call SPD. Nobody shows up. Guess what they had a new puppet show. They trespassed on two different private properties, SPD didn't show up
There was a lady with a butt plug in her butt yesterday
taking pictures on the beach, and I'm serious, I'm not blind. I'm not blind. So, okay, we've had different. I'm glad to do that. That's my… you let me do my public part, so I don't need to talk to the lawyers tonight.
Thanks.
So I
So, for the report for the night, I do want to thank our Matthews Beach neighbors for coming. I did see the email back and forth earlier this week, so
And I'll follow up on, like, Washington Boulevard in a second, but maybe a site visit with the team would be in order, and we'll have SDOT there, too, because I do think there is joint property, and I know SDU has one project going on right there, too. So, I'll… we talked about it, the executive team this week, and we'll
Similarly, with our Lake Washington Boulevard funds, we are trying to schedule a time to be on site near the gate
Measuring six or whatever we need to do to have that conversation. So I know that on site visit is being planned as well and look forward to
How do smart people like Andy Shepard, who's more of a I always tease him that I'm algebra on means geometry. I don't do the geometry as well. So we'll have all the right people
on site for that visit coming up as well
And second later about Lincoln.
So I don't know who is finding that to move slides, John, okay? So I have a couple of department updates. I don't have a lot of we usually have a section called feedback loop. I don't have a lot on that, so I just threw it on the opening slide, which
Primarily going through some of the briefings that we've talked about. You all requesting or us trying to schedule
So coming up, we're looking at this with tinnitus. So we get all people
We change it when you get your draft agenda. That's why. But we're looking at bringing the golf team and bringing that scholarship in September
Recreation Scholarships and child care. Yeah.
And then Jessica Murphy will be back in October to do the quarterly planning and capital development update. She's going to go over the
Green Lake Evans School project that we had some public meetings in July as well as
For those of you that have been around for about a year or more, we had a briefing last year on improvements at South Capitol Hill Parks
And she'll cover kind of an update on that effort. And then
Rakut sports, we just sent out additional information on that project that's going to do some stakeholder
engagement, so it's not coming back to the board right now with any action, but she'll just give a, like, a timeline of where we are on that project.
And then we have a friend of athletic field scheduled for their partner spotlight in September, and the Seattle Botanical Garden for October.
And… you get to listen to either me or Amy Williams give you an update on the mayor's proposed budget in October, always a good time
And the next slide, Jonathan
So one front trail of course
And the real story.
So
We have permits in hand and are moving forward with the construction of phase one Foster Island work on waterfront trail. It's a project that'll enhance and preserve the trail and waterfront access.
Well, we don't have enough funding to renovate the entire trail, we plan to construct improvements and phases as the budget allows and phase 2 would then be focused on the marsh section of the trail.
Next slide.
Stephanie, garden renovation is underway. I got to meet staff out there about two weeks ago and walk the site and chat with them, but it reopened partially July 28th if you have a chance to go out there
We have a special stonemason who's visiting to help us place all the rocks
We also have expanded the accessible pathway. And while it's a little disruptive, I think it can be fun to kind of see what's happening during the construction project too. So
Please come out there. I wanted to highlight that our carpentry staff used
A fallen tree actually put some new rails on the on the on the bridge there.
It's team effort for sure.
This next slide is highlighting the Hiawasa Playfield project that recently began and is going to extend through 2027. This project moves the play area from where it is now to be closer to the wading pool
Families can have kids splashing and kids climbing same time in the new
Under the
Plan, and then we'll take out the old play area after this one. Opens.
Next slide.
Some Recreation program updates we had fall registration start last
It was 2 days ago, Tuesday. The fall brochures are out and any added programs are available on ActiveCats, but it's time coming, so please
Sign up for programs
I think I mentioned at our last meeting that we expanded the amount of scholarship funding available for this year. So I had a couple of community centers reach out and just say how it was nice to not run out with scholarship, Recreation scholarship funds on the first day of registration
I'm sure you may hear more about that at the scholarship update, but that
a fun email to get. And then, as you all know, we have Queen Anne pool clothes, unfortunately due to that significant underground week. But as part of our plan
We had planned to extend Evans and Medgar Everett pool hours Sundays beginning this fall so that we could have more lessons, recreational students. So that is kicking off
In September as well.
And then, save the date is the next slide. Every year we have an annual celebration of volunteerism known as the Denny Awards. Recognizing the first family that donated our first park, and that's going to happen this year in December
second, but actually starting just next week, people can nominate fellow volunteers for for that honor.
Please look at that if you have somebody to nominate or board members, you will be highly encouraged to join us that night.
Next slide
Some opportunities to engage coming up on August 22nd. I think Andy and I and many others will be at Freeway Park for their 50th birthday celebration. I happened to get to walk through it
On my way to the town hall last night, and it's looking pretty good. There's mountains running. It was great to hear. So
Definitely, I'm having a hard time keeping them running, but they are running last night.
And then we have this Saturday, we have a big event, the jazz festival at Jose Rosal Park. So a lot happening
there this weekend, I will note here that we do have a nearby closure of Lewis Park, which is the park right on Lewis on Gulf Drive, and that we were. We had a week long closure planned to end yesterday, and we extended it for 2 more
To do some additional repairs, landscape
I guess I will say it's very
Gruni, not scary. And… and removing all the debris that we don't have
40 degrees that we're worried about fires or anything that's extend. So
We also have this Saturday, Big Day of Play.
Let me have it Rainier Playfield and Mount Baker Road and Sailing Center, and starting August 28th is our Teen Summer Musical this year called Peter Pan Ready to Rise at McCall Hall
You have an interest in
I mean, not to support the teams. There's over 70 roles
rent of house, some of those behind
But a lot of teams engaged all summer to put that on for community.
Any questions for me?
I have two questions on different topics.
First question is if there's any update on the timeline about the superintendent search
And then the second question is just given the elevated fire risk in the state, if there's anything sort of different happening in terms of
mitigation or anticipation for that
Great questions, Jane.
Superintendent hiring process is underway. I think they're looking at doing interviews in September and hope to have a
Mayor's announcement.
October-ish maybe with hope that anybody new would be on board by Q1
Council confirmation. And
So there is a burn ban, so we have changed our beach fire program, and
the rangers are definitely trying to show up
More quickly to any report that we had sent
Youngsters out at Discovery Park over the weekend trying to have a nice little
I'm allowed fire down on the beach, so, we are trying to respond as we hear things.
But yes, it's
I'm part of that update
The fire department made a part of Lewis Park. We had a little fireball that was closed
The fire department was there in space.
Great response
Any other questions from the superintendent support?
One from Zoom, if anyone can hear
Alright. Oh, sorry, Philip.
Let's see. Phil, do you want to go ahead and see if we can get you
Sure. Well, I'm really happy to hear about the Washington Park Arboretum
The Waterfront trail underway. I'm curious what the plan is for funding after this first phase. Is SPR looking to fund the construction across the whole trail?
We just sorry
Clarify really quick, I think you probably
down by myrtle efforts.
Oh
I'm thinking about the Arboretum Waterfront Trail, the one by Foster Island
Sorry. The slide I had about the Washington Park Arboretum waterfront.
There is not funding for phase two yet.
So Phil, so you probably can't hear that word applying for grants for phase two
Got it. Thanks, appreciate it.
Thank you. And then next up, this is Andy the presenter. All right.
I think I'm going to attempt to speak loud and say, oh, I got it. The microphone.
I'm Andy Sheffer, Seattle Parks and Recreation Deputy Superintendent overseeing our Planning and Capital Development Branch
I'm here today to
Is that a supplemental presentation to answer a number of questions around the Cal Public Schools improvements
proposed improvements at Lower Woodland Field. Next slide, please.
And I want to start, and the presentation will focus on the staff recommendation to support Seattle public schools and proceeding with an environmental impact statement process.
The presentation will cover roles and responsibilities and timeline
SBR will assign a project liaison that will work closely with SPS
And developing the scope for the consultant and working with SPS, with the consultant
Regular meetings
Sail Up Parks and Recreation will retain authority of ultimate say in decision making milestones. I'll get to those milestones in the timeline
Community engagement. We recommend a robust community engagement process really looking at stakeholder groups collectively
Now we're creating a collective of stakeholder groups to help inform the direction forward.
From a timeline standpoint, there's termination of significance associated with this project.
You either have termination of non-significance or determination of significant
We're participating in the termination of significance that was triggered an Eis process. The first meeting associated with that Eis process is scoping and
making the alternatives clear. I'll get into that more in the presentation. Then a draft Eis
Her views based on the scoping the draft Eis was shared for public comment is incorporated into the final EIS and then there's an appeal period
Next slide, please.
So, moving forward, the staff recommendation on the Seattle Public Schools
proposal to make improvements at Lower Woodland are twofold
One, to initiate an Eis process
To support the initiation of an EIS process of the new play field
to execute design and construction of the track renovation development from field events around field
And
They're doing so, they go through SDR, design review, that improvement will, and it has been going through
what we call Pro view and South Public Schools has responded to all the comments and have been incorporating those comments into the design.
And ultimately, the long-term outcome is to deliver sustainable, functional assets that serve both the students and the community.
Next slide, please
So, diving into the EIS process a little bit more
It's an objective evaluation of environmental impacts
And it starts, as I mentioned, with scoping
The first part of that process is a public hearing to review the purpose and need of the project
We discuss at length in the public meetings today. And then it establishes in that meeting they'll establish the options to review and the options are
Absolutely essential. The options are what make an EIS process valuable. And we want to make sure those options are real
Second, the… and is the analysis phase where
The externalities
Our study associated with the development of the player pill and associated environmental impacts
And as an example, they'll include impact to tree canopy, traffic noise, drainage
Eis will also account for
Social and cultural impacts. One, for example, one option may be
Not doing anything, not doing anything has an environmental impact associated with busing
In transportation
But as I said before, it's absolutely essential that a reasonable range of alternatives for comparison
SPR will weigh in on that, and the public will weigh in on that
And then lastly is mitigation or avoidance. We've had a lot of comments from Commissioners and from the public about specific design
ideas and mitigation can be finessing the design, rotating the field ever so slightly to avoid trees, potentially narrowing the field
Changing parking lot to zone, so forth and so on. It just goes on and on. That's… that's really the meat and potatoes.
Next slide, please
But first and foremost, we want to take an approach of proactive stewardship.
And while needing the requirements under SEPA. And that's really the intent. I mentioned control of externalities, conservation
front and center. Accessibility to the service is absolutely critical. Traffic management, state safe pedestrian routes. And I mentioned there again the no action option has an impact, particularly to
accessibility to service. Next slide. Oh, and then you can see sorry if you can see the 50th in Aurora site here and then the site that was previously presented at Pier 1
Next slide, please
So the timeline
You know, we can't put a precise timeline to the Eis process. It can take anywhere from
Two years to 3 years, year and a half to three years, somewhere in that ballpark.
And we're here today to
I am recommending that to the board of Commissioners that we support continuation of the sports field project into the Eis phase
After that
Depending on the recommendation
of the Board of Commissioners the superintendent
will authorize or not, SPS to convince the EIS sometime in the latter half of August
If the, if that is, if that authorization occurs
The next big milestone is the draft EIN. Draft Eis
And
That's an opportunity to kind of take the litmus sense of where we're at and how thorough the mitigation is, the comfort level, everyone's comfort level. And
there'll be an opportunity, we'll give a briefing, to BPRC, and it's another opportunity, for SPR to support moving forward.
And then
You know, the draft PIS also kind of triggers getting more deeper into permanent
And then, the final AI the final decision is where the property owner either supports
It is development or not
Next slide
So, in summary, to communicate
I think it's readily apparent by
For students, art patrons, meeting, Mortis Fields, and
There's a community for preserving the environment
You know
I was trying to remember this phrase, and I may have remember it
It's not going to be perfect. You know, we're going to have to lean in. But I think there's a solution
And I am optimist
And tonight we're asking again board to recommend
Down Public Schools moving forward with the plate field and supporting
We execute that design perspective, knowing that you know Parks and Recreation wants more wood fields
And, this really marks a strategic partnership and
We are
We also recommend that Seattle Public Schools engage in a more robust public
Information process.
More robust than is required in an EIS
Particularly in convenience of
And China, like I say, in order to groups as a collective, working again
And
I think that was my last one.
So you're gonna need to stay up there, Andy. Sorry. Just before we take questions from the I just had one clarifying
Couple clarifying questions. You mentioned the next phase would be a draft Eis. What would be the timing of a if we move forward of scoping
here at public hearing that you discussed
Yeah, we're not
Get out of schools, and it's hiring the consultant ever has hired the consultant
And I would anticipate the first public hearing
In the late fall
I think, having a goal of 3rd quarter next year
The latter half of the second quarter, third quarter.
Would like to go ahead and open it up to Commissioners of questions for Andy, and we also have some representatives from Sps leadership
Here as well, who are also available to answer questions from SBS perspective if needed. So
Commissioners
My question is just on timing. So today we're voting on the
actually voting on the approval to move forward with the survey with Eis project. Will it then come back to a public hearing, and then another vote from the board at the end of that process.
He gets it, we review that result again, or is this the only time
We would vote on this project.
So you'd be making a recommendation to me, so the vote tonight, not the vote tonight is not the final recommendation to me, and I think part of your recommendation could be how you want to be engaged.
I mean, Annie, I think you suggested that coming back and forth, Commissioners with the draft Eis
But as Michelle said
I know, yep, got it. Kevin.
Thanks for the presentation and thanks for all the discussion and interest from everybody on this issue. Read lots and lots of public comment as I know my colleagues up here have and listened to lots and lots of public comment. Now I have lots and lots of questions. So I'm just going to launch into them
My first set of questions are for the SPS leadership. I thank you guys for being here.
I've listened to your testimony.
dug into the materials on your website.
I don't understand how we got here. I don't understand why you proceeded with opening a high school without a play field in the first place, and what was the what was the thinking back then? Was there dialogue with the Parks department back then because it's been several years now, and I don't understand how we got from there to here
Where you want to go
So Richard Bass, I'm the Capital Projects Director for Seattle Public Schools is actively engaged in
the reopening of Lincoln High School. At the time the conversations were with the Park District about reutilizing the
Jesus Aguir, who was your commissioner or superintendent at that time
After use has begun, Lincoln High School use had begun a base of the athletic field noted that the use was greater than anticipated and wanted to know if Seattle Public Schools could
Mitigate the impact to the community on the field. So that's how we got
So the original plan was to use the existing plan was to use Lower woodland field number two, and that had been the historic use as well for Lincoln High School when it was hopefully in the 80s
Got it. Thank you. That helped me understand.
I also looked at your website, as I said, and I saw in your FAQs
You know, one of the options was floating in Borno Stadium, right? And your FAQs, you said the Memorial Stadium's being renovated between 2025 and 2027. So therefore it's unavailable for Lincoln High School. But we're talking about, you know this whole process is going to be well beyond 2027. So
An option beyond 2027, has that been considered and how so? Memorial Stadium would be utilized for high school varsity football games, and that is, you know, that has been the use. We were practicing at Memorial Stadium
You've now entered into an agreement with One Roof Foundation, City of Seattle and Seattle Public Schools to utilize that facility for varsity football games
Going forward. So
Great, one more question for us. Yes, thank you for these answers. I just want to understand your process more. Have you guys had hearings like this? You have public comment? How did you come to the decision to
approach the parts department. That part's a little bit murky. Okay, so we've had several public hearings. We've engaged in conversations with the prior superintendent prior to
Michelle Finnegan, we engaged in conversations with the public. We've made numerous presentations at Lincoln High School first presentation was probably two years ago this fall. And then had a series of conversations about
potential use at the field or the park between Hamilton Middle School and Lincoln High School that
was clear, the community was clear that they did not want a full-size field there. That's what one of our criteria for this field is that it gave the vehicle size field.
Awesome. Thank you. My next set of questions are for Andy. And I'll try to keep it somewhat, please. Thank you, Ryan.
So as I said before, we've heard tons of public comment. We've read tons of public comment.
I'm a little murky on, like, how does the department synthesize all that? That was not part of your presentation, like, is there… is that incumbent on us as Commissioners to do, or is there something that the department does to synthesize all the input we've heard
We got a… we've logged all the information, I personally reviewed a lot of the information
And a lot of the questions
I guess I categorized the questions into two big buckets, one being
design field, and one being preservation of the environment. and they kind of go hand in hand
Which is the answer
And my mind was gonna be in the Eis, in the mitigation, because in order to mitigate, you finesse the design
I've got… we've gotten so many questions, or not question or comments about the orientation of field, the dimensions of the field
And that's all in the mitigation. You change the orientation.
to mitigate impacts and end the alternatives
You know, I mean, I can see a matrices. We have the alternatives, and then you're weighing which alternative best mitigates the impact, including the
option that cannot do anything, which also has impact.
On the EIS process, I understand the EIS process, I've been through those, I appreciate your overview. And you did touch on this, but I just want to put a fine point on it. Parking transportation, I mean, that seems to be, to me, to be a really critical issue here and
Yeah, one thing I didn't really hear is there any understanding within the department of how that current gravel parking lot is used to extended its usage? We're not replacing that parking is my understanding. Maybe that would be a proposal somewhere else. I don't know
The impact of parking hours. I'm a little worried that it hasn't been I haven't heard a lot.
Save access from the school to the site. The gravel parking lot is used for expanded parking for this
Currently, when they have big events that do use it
It's often used as a lay down area by contractors who are revocable use permit process
And by intermittent parking
It's not heavily used currently on a continuous basis for climate. We know that. You have data unless you're obviously talking to it, in terms of, like, how much a fuse cannot use. Yeah. Oh, and that would be in the next
Two more questions, that'll be done, I promise.
On the… on the trees, like, I'm… I've heard a lot of conflicting information, and I didn't really see anything in your presentation about the trees. The extent to which we know
You know, what do we know about the trees? What do we not know about the trees? I know the EIS is going to cover some of that, but maybe not all of it.
BIS will go into great detail on the trees. From an environmental standpoint canopy trees
First and foremost
And
Again
It all depends on any impact to the trees really depends on the orientation of the field
But equally important is we instead of breeding
And oftentimes, you'll see construction projects that occur
And trees are saved, but a year down the road, you lose a bunch of trees. The environmental impact will not only identify trees that need to be removed, but also trees that may be markedly impact
And even hydrology, the change of hydrology, you're going to impact the trees. That's what then
A big part of the EIS
Okay. Last question for me. I know music's rise. I think you're asking questions that many of us have, so… I heard in the public hearing we had last month
A question which I haven't really heard addressed by either SBR or SBS, which is about long-term operating costs. I've heard, obviously, capital costs, so I wanted to pose that question, I guess, of both you and SPS, in terms of it. Do you want
There is a recognition that we'll have to reach an agreement of the operating costs.
But Seattle public school standpoint, we've highlighted that in one presentation, I think it was actually a presentation I think to this commission at your last meeting, but there's a recognition that we need to sit down and hammer
And operating costs
Okay. And then the, timeline slide, in the timeline slide, in the presentation, I make that note when we present the draft Eis to make sure that we also
And, I don't understanding of what that would be
And the real thing we're talking about here is
The other replacement and
I'm done. Thank you.
Well, this is to both SPS and SPR, which is, or excuse me, yeah, if I got it right. I'm new.
What if there's a disagreement in the EIS process between the two organizations? You know, I gather that SPS hired the consultant. Does that then mean that what they want ultimately goes or SPR is the landowner. So how will you mitigate that? I'd like to
just sort of talk about that process and understand
How you resolve differences.
Yeah, I mean?
SPS and SPR won't be driving the process. The consultant will be
And as a professional
Serving the EIS process
They will do so
As objectively as possible
It's
We hire consultants at the parks department multiple times on EIS processes and not receive the direction we had hoped for
And next, we just did it last year and kept bait, because we knew it wasn't going the direction we wanted to, didn't want to spend money on BIRS
So,
I'm impressed with
The consultants that perform EIS studies and how objectives they are able to maintain the work
Thank you. And this might be to Michelle and Ryan, I don't know, but as a commissioner, what's appropriate for us in the scoping process? I mean, if there's public hearings, I assume we could attend as a citizen, but
But is that an inappropriate as a commissioner, or will the commission submit scoping ideas? You know, how does that work?
I'll take this one first.
In our role as Commissioners, I think we're welcome to submit suggestions or things to consider, right? Especially if they've been things raised by the public. We'd like to see that there are multiple orientations considered in the field as the public has commented and asked for a variety of options.
I'm not a land use expert any means, right? So I try to be careful about making very, very specific.
your recommendations, but I do think we have a clear role as representatives of the public to make sure that the options that the public would like to see consider, that they're thought of and considered, and either, you know, included and either included at scope, or there's a
clear reason why not? So, you know, I think
That's sort of my take on it. Obviously, I think a number of continuing ongoing interests in this project. We're invested in it as well as the member community members on all sides and all issues, right? We've spent a lot of time on it. I certainly
Wouldn't want to see this move forward and never hear it again. I don't think that at least for me personally seems the right approach.
I don't know Michelle, do you have anything you want to add?
This is more generally, I would say
There shouldn't be a board quorum without it being
announced, you know, so they… so I think there's differences between you want to put in a recommendation that they say, or you want something to come back to the board and
You know, provide regular updates that I'm making up like we just talked about Jessica's quarterly
Do you want this to be a watchlist project that's just, you know, updated on regularly, versus
I am now at this meeting as Michelle Finnegan, the concerned citizen that has nothing to do with my role as interim superintendent, and I get to say whatever I want to say in that process.
It's about the answers and support on their foot
I think the more that you can guide these folks in a recommendation, guide me on what you're truly interested in tonight because it's
Okay.
Okay, I'm gonna pass it to Jane
Two questions. So I take it that with the two votes that will occur that this will effectively break into two projects and the track and field will follow one path
the field evaluation will follow a separate path.
And from looking through the public comment, it did not seem like there were very many comments about the track and field portion
It's… is that correct? That's correct. Okay.
The second question was kind of in the fine print of one of your slides, which mentioned that as you think about the range of alternatives to consider, that the old option A, the location of field number two might also be thrown in as an option
And I take it that's not to get to a point of having, having an alternative and then having to somehow start over if options weren't fully evaluated. Is that correct?
Option A may be brought back in as an alternative
I want to make sure I'm answering your question correctly. I mean, key to an Eis process is having alternates, not just one alternative and do nothing being an alternative
There needs to be another alternative
That is dialogue. Is that determined as part of the scoping process? Yes, it is the first public hearing. Okay, great. Thank you.
I didn't see hands online, but we've got a little bit of technology challenges here. I'm going to ask deliberately for both Commissioners who are online if they have
questions and I have to sort of manually manage this here so
Yeah, there are a few of us. This is John
Oh, hold on one second. John, I gotcha. I gotta do something here. Sorry.
All right.
Right.
Go ahead, John.
Okay, and then I don't know if you can see, but James and Elise also have their hands raised when I'm done.
A question for Andy
I'm confused about whether the field would be used for nighttime football games. In my head, I thought I had heard that that was not the intention that home quote unquote home games would still be played at an away field. Many of this round of public comments from the pro field
community have been stressing the importance of being able to hold home games at that field. So what do you intend to present as part of the EIS? Is this a
fully is it a Friday night football field and and amenities, or is it not? Because I couldn't tell you right now either way.
So the question was about what type
Thank you. My question was about what type of uses Seattle Public Schools anticipates at the field. Is it for junior varsity practice and varsity practice for our games going to be held there
games will be held at this field. We will be holding junior varsity football games at this field. We will be holding boys and girls soccer games at this field. So yes, there will be games at this field. We will not be hosting
varsity football games at this field. Varsity football games bring a large contingent of the public, and we need a larger venue. But we are anticipating, holding junior varsity football, flag football
soccer. So those types of events that would be at this field. And just to help folks on, could you have a sense of sort of
I know very dramatically, but attendance that you would have in mind for the type of event junior varsity football games would be under 200. They would be the largest of those
Okay, thank you very much. I would just note the parking lot as currently there, the gravel lot is full when there are things like track vents or I'm sorry, the long distance running events that utilize the hill and the park itself because there's just simply not enough parking in the picnic loop
And so I think the idea of taking away that parking, but still being able to accommodate
Many new visitors who want to attend a game is quite challenging. So I would just ask to make sure that that's apparent as we submit it.
That's it for me for now. Thank you.
Yes, in response to your question would be important
Yes, in response to your question, parking will be important in the EIS process
All right, I think I have one other person. I have that mainly missed
Alright, I think I had a lease, and there was one other person that might be helpful if you're able to raise your hand, since I have to manually administer this, but
Totally.
Let's go to Elise.
Thanks, Ryan. Yeah, James had a question as well. I just wanted to circle back on a question I think came from Jane about
Option A if it were to be identified as an alternative in the EIS
If that were the case, wouldn't there then have to be a deep dive EIS for option A?
The overall
Oh, sorry. So the question is if
Oh, sorry, so the question is if
Option A is suggested as one of the alternates
In the EIF study
We're just able to do a separate EIS study on Oxygen A. And my understanding was that the EIS process studied
in the EIS study, wouldn't there need to be a separate EIS study in option A. And my understanding is that the EIS process studies
All the options in depth as a way to compare and mitig
All of the options in yes as a way to compare, mitigate, and see what the best path forward is, which is why
And see what the best tool is, which is why you need functions
Got it. And, just additional clarification on that
Can you just
Walk us through, Andy, why option A wasn't initially recommended as the priority for an EIS
Rather than option C being the priority
That really rests
That really rests on Seattle Public Schools
So, I would note that Seattle Public Schools, one of the criteria that we have identified early on was the importance of a full-size field. Another criteria that has emerged
is
to be able to not have the fields go offline during the construction period for a year. We don't want to exacerbate the problem
And we think that the development of option A was going to further exacerbate that problem. So those were two of the criteria
The other one that really emerged from the community was that the activation and occupancy of the area where the field was proposed in option B, would help alleviate some safety and security concerns
And that was really a community criteria in their public schools, we really think you need to consider option B.
So
Okay, so option A, I think you just said you determined you could not do a full-size field there.
Correct
And the issue being the width, if I remember correctly, the width, yeah.
Okay, I was recalling some public stakeholders say, you know, we had some thoughts on additional measurements, but you feel you did thorough measurements, and that has been put to bed
Correct.
Okay, thank you.
Elise, anything else?
That's it for me. Thanks
All right, I'm not doing manual toggle in here, so I apologize. James
Hi. Quick question on the EIS. I wanted to understand, it sounds like in late fall when the EIS draft discussion happens, it sounds like that'll be the place where like any of the constraints and the outcomes that'll be measured will be
Discussed. If that's correct, I just wanted to understand in terms of how the consultant will come to the final recommendation. My assumption is, like, when we're looking at environmental transportation, recreation, school use
Outcomes, these are kind of dissimilar outcomes, and it feels like they'll be some framework or a high judgment decision required to balance all of these outcomes and come up with a recommendation, or to use that framework to determine what mitigations are appropriate
Is that framework coming from SPS, SPR, or is that like a standard part of the EIS?
The consultant will share that criteria in the first public hearing when they discuss the scoping and alternatives.
Okay.
And it really when the consultant analyzes the project
That criteria they developed that criteria.
after researching the background on the project.
Penny, maybe you could just talk about in some other EISs how when there are competing objectives
That come out of the process
Sort of that
Ways those are weighed. Obviously, there's final is recommendation, it comes back to
parks and the commissioner for final decision. I'm assuming that the process you're looking for a consultant to actually make a
way to inform recommendations. I'm just curious if there are examples of sort of whether very competing criteria that you could share that would help us with some context, having a personal process. I can't emphasize enough, it's an iterative process.
And a lot of the criteria shifts in order to reach
A positive outcome
And
The
Mitigation is often design alterations to make it work
And that's why I don't want to get into design so deep right now because that is in mitigation. So if you talk too much about design now, then you're impacting the end result. Does that make sense? And I hope I
Maybe that wasn't a direct
response to your question, is that sufficient?
James, did you have a follow-up on that?
I think that makes sense. I guess one last follow-up, and maybe this is related to the iterative nature of the process is to understand
Whether or not there's an opportunity for a shorter Eas conclusion
Oh, shorten
Well
If it gets real iterative, it gets to be more like three years. If it's less iterative, you can get it done quicker. But we can't predict
the future. And again, that's why we want a 3rd party to
take this on
Commissioners online. I'm just trying to see if there was anything else to have.
Rebecca has her hand up
Hi, can you hear me?
Yeah.
Sorry, Rebecca. Go ahead.
I was just curious about how all of the great public comments we've already received will be incorporated. There's been so much effort by the public to kind of make their voices heard, and
I wouldn't want all of that good work to kind of get
scrapped, so I'm just curious how all of the comments that have already been submitted will feed into the scoping process for the consultant. And if there's a way that that can be communicated so all of the people who have been so engaged thus far don't feel like they have to duplicate their efforts
Yes, so there's a running log that SPS has kept
That will be part of the background package that goes to the consultant.
Just to echo Rebecca's concern. I'd hate to have a situation where there's a process break down and it's like, well, you didn't submit your comment at this stage in the process because you submitted it here.
Consider it, right? That's
That's what I consider to be. I don't situations where you're telling people, like, well, you have to give feedback again, because this is now
you know, a new stage in the process is unappealing and frustrating to the public. So there's
I understand there's several sages, there's a separate process, but there is a way to convey that as established sort of public commentary, and then with further engagement as well.
As part of that package that goes to consultant that could be part of the board recommendation
to ensure that this public comment is weighed heavily
by the consultant
Thanks.
I'm just waiting here to make sure that no one else comes online.
All right. Don't hear any further questions from the Commissioners at this time.
Does anyone have a motion or wish to work on formulating a motion?
Yeah. Well, I'll move that we
vote too low
I'm going to try and… I'm actually gonna try and get the mic down so they can hear online as well
We have two things, right? Yeah
One
To vote on moving the track and field project on field 7 forward.
And separately, I guess a separate vote, perhaps I don't know if it'd be all one motion. All right. You want to do a separate motion, that's fine.
Probably separate motions make sense. Seems big enough separately, a motion to move forward with the Eis process. I would request that we would want to be engaged at the draft Eis stage again as a as a
And also that all public comments that we've received as the board in those handy PDFs we receive about this project be included in the background material sent to
The consultant
It's okay. I'm not trying to handle these motions. It's okay. I'm going to handle motions separately is there a second? All right.
Kevin has second the motion to move the track and field improvements forward.
I'm going to try and move to
vote. So folks online, if you could just put your vote in the comments probably easiest
way and then
Repeat them, I'll repeat them out as they come through. So is there a motion to recommend the superintendent to move forward with improvements at Lower Woodland for track and field and motion is seconded all those in favor please say aye or add yes in the chat
Hi.
Any opposed?
Any abstentions?
We have a unanimous vote to move forward with the track and field improvement
I would like to come back to the second motion. Please make sure I got this right and then ask if there is a second. A recommendation to the superintendent to move forward in the draft EIS process, encouraging the
With a request to return back to the board of Recreation Commissioners with a report as part of the interim EIS statement. Is that correct? And that all the commentary we've gathered so far through our engagement process be conveyed to the consultant
As part of the background on this project and for consideration as public comment in that EIS.
It sounds like we'd only be getting an update about a year from now. So I want to amend to have more regular updates maybe once a quarter starting in 2027.
Would you be, like, a part of the regular capital? If regular capital
No.
There is a motion on the floor. Make sure we do this right for the process-wise. To recommend Superintendent to engage… to move forward with the draft EIS
And return to the Board of Commissioners as part of the
With the interim EIS for update and provide quarterly updates on the project as it moves forward and to convey the produce the gathered public commentary to the consultant as input from the public
to the project
Is there a second?
I'll second, we can discuss it
So, we moved second, we moved to a vote. So, if you had further amendments, I would actually encourage you to offer them. I don't have an amend it, but isn't there a point in the process to address the motion? Yeah, we can discuss the motion if you did. Yeah, for the second. So go ahead.
Okay, sorry, I didn't understand what you were trying to do. Sorry.
I want to convey, before I vote on this, I just want to convey my thinking on this and if any of this is resonant with the entire board, I
I think it should be conveyed as part of our decision on this
I'll keep this quick, but my thinking is high level, I'm concerned we're in this predicament from a lack of long-term planning on both the part of SDS and SPR.
You know the fact that the school is open without playfield and numerous years later, we're sitting here having this discussion
I think this and I'm just concerned that we're
I don't want to perpetuate this going forward. And in particular, I've been around ES as a prospective process. I think that they are effective. But I also am concerned about outsourcing too much of the decision making and too much of the
Too much the direction, frankly, to a third-party consultant. Some of that direction and vision, frankly, needs to come from the organizations themselves, and things that I am particularly concerned about, parking and transportation. I mean, this is a parking lot we're going to take out, put in a function that's going to presumably have more use
Where's the partake, right? I know this is part of EIS, but I also know that partism is an issue
With all these kind of things, and I think there needs to be some foresight on the part of both agencies as we embark on this. The trees, you know, I'd be… I think, you know, I've heard lots and lots of comments about the trees, and I understand EIS has considered them for their environmental characteristics, but there's also cultural value. I've heard that loud and clear in the comments, and I want to make sure that's included in the Is. I
I want to do that with direction from SDR to this consultant. So that, my thinking personally as a Commissioners, I'm willing to support this, but you can probably hear my voice pretty reluctantly. And I want to convey some strong encouragement for at least SPR and not SPS
Sort of double down on their long-term strategy and sort of thinking about how they charge this consultant, how you form the process. Okay, I'm just fine.
I'll offer to the Commissioners as well. Is anyone else wish to speak to the motion on
Before us
Just checking online.
I'll actually take
Yes, yes, as well. So
There's
a lot of possibilities in how
A proposed field was actually played out, and we've heard a lot about various options.
I also have a little bit of a concern about that
Somehow through the process that optionality and those considerations might get lost in favor of like, well, here's moving this forward or we think this mitigates first. So I'd like to see
That, you know, we consider various orientations. I know there's a strong preference from SDS in terms of field width because it enables a wider range of sports. But I actually think that probably has to be or should be a consideration as well if there's a substantial impact
The tree canopy, for example. So I'm not sure
that there's going to be
I understand there's a long process. I understand there's a lot of considerations worth considerations with more slows and challenging process
There's commission waiting for field, there's a community that we have to be concerned about about the trees. But I do urge the groups involved and I think the consultant will hear this as well public comment to consider a wide range of options that really helps
Best mitigate and try and manage the impact. And of course, considering whether
Not building is also a viable option or not.
That's my thoughts on the matter
Yes
All right, there's been a motion and a second.
I would like to call for a vote on the motion.
Yes, let me try again. This is the part where
We're public business, board is working in the public eye, which has some challenges to it, which is that we don't have a formally draft motion, right? But, and
Please help help me here.
Move to vote to recommend to the superintendent to move forward with the draft ES process for athletic field at lower
Woodland Park asking that the with the with the understanding that it comes back before the Board of Commissioners as part of an interim
EIS and also to provide quarterly updates on the project, and to convey
All previously gathered community comments to the consultant as part of the public comment for scoping.
the EIS
I'm sorry
Trying to do this verbally, it's tricky. All right. Move forward to the vote.
And in a second, we're going to move forward with a vote. All those in favor? Please say aye or say or add aye to the chat online.
We have
Brian is I online. Rebecca is I, Elise is I.
Anyone else?
Tricia is I. All those opposed.
Me.
John, I've captured a no vote. Thank you.
Any abstentions?
All right.
The motion carries
acknowledging one no vote for Commissioner Point. I think it's the thought were recorded for the notes.
All right. Thank you for everyone for your engagement. The board looks forward to further updates on this project as it moves into Eis phase. Thank you all for your time and hard work and the community engagement
on this project so far we have a
lot more to do, and we look forward to hearing further updates.
And
And the board does have another attendee. So we're going to move forward with our last agenda item. Justin is going to give us an update on the find it and fix it SDR's asset management system. This has been a item that the commissioners have been asking for to better understand how the find effects of data is utilized
As for
Yeah
And thank you, Commissioners for taking that
Boat is taking it so seriously. I really value your advice council. Thank you for that. I did want to introduce this effort. This was one of the briefings you all asked for. So if you're new as the context for that
We have an asset management work order system that I'm very pleased. Mike Lynn has joined the table here.
Mike and I have worked together for a long time in many roles, but he is our assistant administrator for this system. This is a system that is internally focused. It's a system that was funded, thankfully through the first cycle of the Park District
It's
You can imagine with Parks and Recreation, there is no system that captures are lines of business well, so you'll hear tonight kind of a there's ground maintenance, how it uses the system, and then there
The facility, shop maintenance and how is that line of business uses the system. Both get annoyed with the system almost the same amount, so we kind of take that as a win, similar to our primary recreation system that doesn't work perfect for the gardens and doesn't work perfect for the aquatics and doesn't work perfect for all
But on top of that, this group, has tried to integrate it with the cities, find it, fix it system
And I just want to be clear that, like, we are not saying that what you're hearing tonight is, like, we think this is perfect, and this is always how it's gonna be. So just, this is growth and learning and trying, and
What we have right now with the system and the resources we have right now. So
in that vein, be kind to Mike and Justin as you get some updates on exactly how well this system integrates, and how we're trying to lean into transparency and feedback.
Thank you both for being here tonight. I mean, we'll grab this one.
Awesome. Well, thank you for having us. How much time should I take up?
15 minutes over there's Q&A. Sure. It's not something that we do want to hear from, so. Yeah, awesome.
So, we're here to talk about how Find It Fix It integrates with our, with our asset management systems, and we're giving you a little bit of a broader intro, just given the nature of the systems at work. And so we're going to start with some background and key concepts
We're gonna then go into getting customer service requests in general. So the feedback we get from the public and what we do with it and what that looks like. And then just to give you some really specific examples, we're going to take a look at restroom related customer service requests for 202
And we're trying to make sure you're getting the full picture up here.
So we'll start with some terminology, which is
You won't get my animations, which is some of them are pretty good, so that's too bad. But so sort of background and key concepts. So first, find it, fix it, right? This is an app you have probably heard about and maybe used
Where Seattleites can report issues. This is one of several portals for doing so, including a website.
managed through the customer service bureau.
We… we short and find it, fix it to FIFE, which is not only funny, but if you're like us, you have FIFA on the brain this year, and often we get confused, so you probably won't hear me call it FIFA, but sometimes we've got it written up there like that. So find and fix it, that's the app. The whole suite of portals through which
satellites can request information, or can request action. Actually, we call them customer service requests. So those, you know, if you send it in through a website, if you send it in through the app, if you call into the Customer Service Bureau and they send it to… you know, all those things together are
customer service requests, or CSRs.
The asset management work order system, or AMRO, is our system for assigning and tracking work on our assets.
Incidentally, it also serves as labor tracking for 400 of our employees, right? So if you're a plumber working on a specific restroom, you're coding your time to that asset, and that feeds its way into your timesheet, right? And it's also used for capital planning, understanding kind
How old these assets are when we last updated them and all that.
Our dispatch is the SPR team that receives service requests from staff and all these other places, right? Anywhere you could get information coming into us from the community saying, hey, something needs work here. It's our dispatch of the human beings who are
Who are taking that information in. So just to give you a sense of timeline, find it, fix it was initially launched in 2013
We started AMWO in 2016
In 2021, we restructure our dispatch team. They used to be distributed among various divisions, and we pulled them into one consolidated dispatch to make it easier for the public and for kind of our own assigning the work. And in 2023, we worked to integrate Find it, fix it directly with Amber.
So just a few other kind of terms to keep in mind
Although I might skip this part just to give you more information, but key thing to know, I think, is I won't skip it. All right. I saw looks of horror on some of your faces. So
Got it.
So, there's several kinds of work orders. So, a work order
is… I hadn't thought about that, but you know it's a… it's a delegation within AMWO to do for some team to do something to an asset, right? So there are demand work orders which are essentially something is broken and needs to be fixed
Those get generated by customer service requests, right? So somebody coming in through the app or through the Customer Service Bureau website, it might be they directly call our front desk, right? Or somehow they get Michelle's phone number and go straight to her
Or when our staff are out and see something is broken and need fixing, they will call in a work order as well.
So those are demand work orders. Something's broken, it needs to be fixed. Preventive work orders or PM work orders are pre-planned activity that we do to keep assets in operation. Those are generally driven by our best management practices, right? We are endeavoring to have kind
On an annual basis, these are the things that we should do to this asset to keep it in good working order, right? And so we try and do those things each year. And so work orders get generated in the system to help with that.
We also have we have capital improvement or CIP work orders. So these are if we're going to rebuild a building or, you know, reurfish a bathroom, that's pre-planned activity to update that whole asset. And oftentimes it's performed in-house by our staff. And so that's
That's a CIP work order.
So, okay, what you actually want, so with all that as background and help to enhance your understanding, what you actually want to know about a look at our customer service requests and what happened.
So, I want you to imagine you are visiting Madrona Park on July 5th, 2025, and you need to go to the bathroom and you find that the toilet has been blown up by fireworks.
So you, a good resident, pull out your phone and open up your Find It Fix It app. and you report it to us. And one thing I'll note, I got a little distracted to tell you before. There's a variety of ways you can send us information. Find it, fix it is the best one. It's the one we would encourage you to use
to tell us if you see something out there
And so if you select Parks and Recreation maintenance when you're telling us about this, then it comes to us. Now, this is where the animations really would have been nice, so I'm sorry for a complex diagram, but here's the workflow
You submit your Find It Fix-It service request
It goes to the customer service bureau, and if you pick Parks and Recreation maintenance, then that gets routed to us, and our dispatch team takes a look at it and decides what to do
So oftentimes, even though the customer, even though you may have put
Parks and Rec maintenance, maybe it's actually land that SD owns, or it's a SPU responsibility. So that's kind of the first look is if it's actually not us, we send it back to for proper delegation
If it is our responsibility, but it relates to graffiti or the unified care team. So engaging with homeless encampments and related work. That's SPR responsibilities, but they use separate data systems. And so
We send those to those data systems because they're citywide functions, they kind of have pre-existing broader systems that don't directly touch our amwell system
So if it's anything else, right, if it's a tree has fallen in a park, if it's a toilet has blown up, then it comes into our asset management work order system.
And so if the service request belongs to our natural resources team, so a tree has fallen in the park
Something like that, right? Our dispatch will generate a work order in the AMLO system, and it sends it to the proper team. Generally, they add that to their list, their queue of existing work orders, and the crews work through them
It might be prioritized depending on urgency.
That same thing is true if you send something… if it's a toilet that's broken, if it's a drinking fountain that won't stop running, right? Something that needs a plumber or a carpenter or an electrician to deal with that same process happens. Can someone look at that, or is that just based on the dropdown that
Our dispatch and Mike, our technical expert, will correct me anytime I say a lie, but our dispatch, our human beings who look at it, and based on what the asset is and the issue that the resident is raising, we'll figure out who it goes to.
So if it's a grounds maintenance related issue
And it's routine maintenance, like overflowing garbage or a dirty restroom
We don't actually generate a work order for that because we have pre-existing grounds maintenance routes where usually several times a day staff are hitting that park and taking care of the overflowing trash can or the dirty restroom, right? And so the screenshot here is just in AMWO, we have a
A router, right? This is an example of a route from the Central West District.
And, you know, the reason why we do it like that is because we have multiple routes per day. We have a whole lot of grounds maintenance staff. And it wouldn't make sense necessarily to dispatch some specific person to go work on an overflowing
trash can, right? We presume that'll get hit as a part of the next route. But usually a note gets sent to the crew chief to make sure they're paying attention to that.
So if it's grounds maintenance, but it's not a routine issue, it's something weird, like burned out light bulbs or a broken sprinkler. So it's not something that a normal route is going to take care of or notice, but it doesn't really need a carpenter or a plumber or an electrician
Ground payments has a staff position called an installation maintenance worker who can do those things, right? Simpler, you know, not routine maintenance, but not yet skilled trades, that kind of middle zone. And that in those cases, we do create a work order and send an actual human out to go do that work
I'll pass it to Mike to tell us a little bit about the system inside.
So this slide is pretty much just a snapshot of what the dispatchers see. So when a dispatcher logs in, every service request that comes in from
Customer service
class, find a fix it or portal
Gets routed to this
This is great here. So it's it's broken down each dispatcher logs in, and then the bottom left there. You see the service requests that come in and take action.
On the right side.
It also showed the map, and then when they go into the service request, they can actually see where that request was submitted from, if it has 9
This is an example of when the dispatcher actually goes into that service request. So it's just general information from the find and fix it app
of what was requested. The council district what what the issue is, and some other information that comes across. Also, if there's a picture that was attached, we get the link back to that picture, and we can actually see that picture
They'll submit it to us.
So, just to give you a sense of what these looked like, Mike pulled out of the system all the customer service requests that SPR received in 2025.
There were 12,716, right? So that's anything that came through Find It Fix It or through the Customer Service Bureau's website
And you can see kind of how they fall out quarterly, right? That the vast majority are the most are in summer. Second most are in spring. But if there there's no part of the year where we're not getting a reasonable number of them right? And then you can see how they're distributed throughout the city in the map
You can see… I hope you don't care about districts two, three or four. But I'll kidding. I'll read it to you. So we've got they're pretty well distributed across the city. Like, if you mapped park acres or various kinds of assets against
Against districts, you'd see these. This is a pretty decent distribution, right? That we get about the same proportion of
find and fix it request as you have parkland in that in that area. So district one 16% District 2 had 17% of the total. District 3 had 18%. District 4 had 13 district 9, sorry, District 5 had 9%.
Six had 16% and downtown had 11% district seven had 11%.
So what were these work orders for? What kind of issues were happening?
What you see here is the percent of customer service requests in 2025 that were assigned to various shops. And so remember that we don't assign a work order to a shop if it's about graffiti
If it's about a homeless encampment or if it's a simple kind of trash can overflowing issue, right? Those don't show up in this data. So this is everything else
So this is kind of something that needed skilled trades, something that a tree has fallen. This is some of the you know a light bulb needs to be fixed, and we should send out a grounds person
I'll note that some of the ground… the 25% here at grounds maintenance is… some of that is route-related issues, and we had a business practice change in 2025, where we were creating work orders for grounds, for normal route-related stuff, and we changed that partway through the year
So just know that the grounds number there is a combination of route stuff, and we don't do it that way anymore. And second, kind of more complicated grounds like stuff. So you can see
Grounds 25%. The next one is kind of 15% NRU, so trees, trails, natural areas.
Recreational equipment is… they do a variety of things, but primarily playground equipment, right? So they were the next that kind of 15% there for… so something broken on a playground and needs fixing.
Plumbing close behind, electrical carpentry, concrete
And then just a whole mix of other folks.
I think
That is my 15 minutes of part one. So we can pause for questions. I can race through restrooms, or how would you like me to proceed?
Sure. In the schedule. Sure. Absolutely
But yeah, let me try and take some questions or I can't want voicing right in that but try and
Like to try and briefly take questions from Commissioners on sort of the process of this data and would love to try and have Justin back to talk more about restrooms. It's been a yet another ongoing topic of interest to Commissioners but
Jen, I think you had asked about this topic. So
A couple of questions for you. One is just about the tracking of open orders, and is that
a metric that you look at weekly, monthly.
I'll say one thing, big picture, and then I'll hand it to Mike to tell you a little bit more about the technical side, but we do have several of our kind of high-level key performance indicators for specific things that people care about. We have kind of how many days did it take us to resolve them
And we have goals around how many days it does take. So generally that's vandalism and related things. So we do have, you know, you are on my subcommittee and you get to hear about our many key performance indicators. Several of them are
directly related to what you're saying.
But I'll let Mike, I'm not sure Mike's team would be the ones who do, on a broader scale, take a look at that and let's see what
So, is the question open work orders?
Or how do we… or is it related to ground staff? For open workers and maybe length of time open
I would imagine that that's sort of an aging network. Yeah, so if a request comes in and it's assigned to like still trades, then a work order is created pretty fast and assigned to that crew right away.
I don't know the metrics of, like, turnaround. Overall, it looks like it's fairly, fairly addressed fairly quickly as related to grounds, we have the route order that we have open for a month at a time. And then those are the ones that
The ground staff go in and they post their labor towards the route corner. And we don't attach those service requests to those right away. There's some slides later on that says the service request when it comes in, and if it's attached to like grounds mainten
My team actually closes it out, like, within a week because the assumption is that it was handled by the ground staff within their normal routine maintenance. Can you just talk about verification.
So it's the dispatchers when they review the editor closed after one week. Within a week, yes, right? Yes
So the public member of the public down, they see the same degree again, and you think there is a difference. Correct, and it would… it may depend on what was originally requested. So example would be litter
So, if it was request for later, we would assume that it's part of the normal route.
routine, and so they would go out there. The dispatcher also notifies the crew chief of this request, and so it is it's it's assumed that it's addressed during that normal round
But if the public goes back out and sees litter again.
The assumption is it's additional literary, it's not the same letter
Possibly.
Unless… unless they're exactly at that.
Unless Browns did not go out there
And I think you're pointing out
work in the system, right, of how we deal with it, that because it's a route, we presume the route will deal with it, and
So I think that's a place for us where we have been doing the continuous improvement, but it generally works right? And generally works that the route, however, for skilled trades and these other folks, I think we do track exactly how many days
The verification process happens in real time right as the person who's sent to fix the thing like confirms that the thing is, in fact, fixed right? And somebody in their chain of command closes out the work order based on based on that confirmation
And so, you know, just a sneak preview of your restaurant stuff, right? 63% of our restaurant related work orders
were closed within a week.
Yeah, that's true.
So
If this is related to kind of the natural natural resources
the skilled trades, or to that kind of specialized grounds maintenance work, the shop goes and does the work and confirms that it's completed, and that closes out the work order and the customer service request, and so the Seattleite who submitted it gets a message back
Mike was just talking about the other side of it, the route piece that grounds does the work as a part of their route and just automatically
his team closes out the work order. So there's a chance in there for some slippage or something not to have been done.
So my second question and I'll use the folks that were here from Matthew's speech as an example where it's sort of a similar problem that recurs over a period of time and has some public safety elements involved
And
You know, we do route people to the app as a way to report those things and
You know, and it feels like that the
the pathway for some of these more routine issues, you know, is pretty different than the pathway for some of the things that they've been talking about.
Can you just talk a little bit more about that and
So as Justin shared, the unified care team, they have their own
tracking citywide. And so, anything
I think we probably default more to that if there's a tent and anything like that that is flagged in the work order, it goes there, and there are field coordinators would go out and
validate the site and determine where it gets in the prioritization. So I would say those are more complicated and probably, as you heard tonight, we're less clearly responding to because it has these different multi-departmental
Pathways of prioritization and resource
But, you know, it feels like it ends up being a little
We are passing around between different city departments, which is what leads to a lot of the frustration
Yes, and I don't know that we know it relates to a lot of
Strong frustration. I'm not sure if it's the majority like we do as you saw in there, 12,000.
I think we get a lot of… your irrigation head popped, you've got a, you know, a shooting, whatever. So we are getting a lot of like thank you for telling us, because we might not be there for until Monday morning. Now we can send somebody out. So there is a lot of stuff that
the community telling us is kind of regular parks and rec work, and it really does make a difference. I do think when it gets into when it's complex for us to try to solve to the you know there's
Is it an encampment, and it needs this? Does it need the care tape first? I mean, that gets very complex for us, too, and as we said, continuous improvement is
It's definitely part of part of this effort and what are the impacts
Where… where does something fall down, you know, so we can try to do better learn trends
I have a few quick questions. I'll just ask them both at the same time. The first is, even on this
slide and thinking back to the one previous where something like 16% take more than 30 days. I think I got that number right. Is there a closed loop where if it's taking longer, somebody reaches back out to the citizen and says
We're sorry this is taking so long, this is what's going on, because that's not on the slide. And then just from a future standpoint, 12,000
submissions a year is about 40 a day, give or take. Is there a plan for automation assist for the agents, to not have to manually code
40 per day, every day for an entire year.
Imagine a world where every system is actually reporting everything. That's all.
I'll take the first one, and I'll let you answer the second one. So I think I don't believe there is a process in which a work order is taking a really long time since some kind of interim feedback to the public
And Mike is nodding his head to confirm. The reason some of those longer-term… you didn't ask this, but the reason some of those longer term
The ones that take a longer period of time, if you dig into them, it's usually something related to the extent of the damage, or if it's pretty simple, it's like a part was on order or something like that.
You know, in a few cases, we can identify ones like, oh, we probably should have worked on that a little quicker, but for the most part, those really the ones that take a while are due to the complexity of the issue or have some mitigating factor. But yeah, I don't I see
I could see the value in an interim note, like, we've received this and we're working on it still, but I don't… that's not a part of our current workflow.
So it's not fix that response
And then automation.
I guess the simple answer is yes, technically we can automate some of those things. Some of the limitations of the software itself and how we design the integration with from the ambush system back to the customer service application
Depending on what the changes are that we look in, we may have to get the vendors involved.
But there are some. And then if we did change some of that to automate, it would then change some of the business flows that those teams have to
interact with those plants because right now all the service requests are coming in through dispatches, taking action on those service requests, whether it's creating a work order. And then the team or the skills trades or the grounds
are actually the ones that see the work order after the dispatches have created it. So
Long answer, short answer, yes.
Just checking, I wasn't seeing any questions online, so I'm gonna pause for a moment.
All right
Thank you both for coming, giving us more about the process, and yeah, we look forward to continue to hear more. And we have
Typically we try and allow time for owning a business, but I'm acknowledging that we're 10 min over right now. So we'll try and make sure we have time for that agenda next time. And then you wanted to have an announcement about the next meeting
Michelle? Yeah.
That we're working on some improvements to our
Dexter boardroom right now, and it won't be done for September 10th.
We looked at this site, this is not available in September 10th because there'll be recreation programming happening here. So we are still trying to finalize the location. So when you get your agenda, just please note
The location that's listed, because we will we make the account at the Elliott Bay office park. We're looking at what the agenda was and how many people we thought were coming, but so we'll we'll clarify that as soon as possible
Thank you, and thanks for everyone coming and thanks for the Commissioners online for bearing with some of our technical issues and for everyone for the comments. Yeah.
And then concludes this evening's meeting. Thank you very much.