Parks Comm MINS 02-04-2021g:\parks comm mtg notes\2021\02-04-2021 minutes.doc
CITY OF FEDERAL WAY
PARKS AND RECREATION
PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
February 4, 2021 Video Conference
5:00 p.m. City Hall
MEETING MINUTES
Present: Chair Michael Campsmith, Vice Chair Dawn Coggins, Thomas George, David Berger, Gary Rich, George
Vadino and Carrie BeSerra
Excused: George Pfeiffer
Staff: John Hutton, Parks Director, Jason Gerwen, Parks Deputy Director and Mary Jaenicke, Parks Adm. Asst. II.
Chair Campsmith called the meeting to order at 5:00pm.
PUBLIC FORUM
None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Berger moved to approve the January Parks and Recreation Commission regular meeting minutes as
written. Commissioner Rich seconded. Motion passed.
COMMISSION BUSINESS
Prioritization Matrix
The goal is to develop a prioritization matrix in an effort to help staff prioritize upcoming capital projects. The
Parks Department has $1million dollars in funding from a King County Parks Levy. At the January meeting
Parks Administration staff and Parks Commissioners made the decision to identify, and discuss two tasks on
the matrix at each meeting. The two questions to discuss at the February meeting are: 1) Is the task part of the
PROS Plan, 2) What was the score on the community survey. There was also discussion at the January
meeting regarding scoring. Staff Gerwen suggested not making any decisions on the scoring until the
prioritization matrix is complete. Chair Campsmith clarified that the prioritization and scoring is a method to
compare one project to another project and come up with a score. He encouraged the commissioners to not get
too hung up on whether or not it adds up to 100 or it goes over 100. Question #1 was discussed. Chair
Campsmith stated that a project should be rated higher if it’s in the PROS Plan; but a discussion would need to
take place if a new project emerged as possibly having a higher priority. Staff Gerwen suggested adding
another question that would address if there was “community will”. Commissioner Berger added that if a scale
of only 1-5 is used we will end up with a differentiation of .1, .2 etc. He suggested that the scale have 20
points; this will create a much wider spread between projects. This will make it easier to understand. Staff
Gerwen added that some questions could be worth 20 points and some questions could be worth only five
points. The more points you’re able to get per question is how we are weighting each question. If a question is
more important then it should carry more weight. Commissioner Berger suggested that the Commission decide
on the categories, the total number of points for each category and then decide how to weight the points. A
long discussion continued. Staff Gerwen stated that it’s easy to get stuck on the numbers right now and
suggested picking one and move on, changes can be made as the commission moves through the development
of the matrix. The decision was made that if it’s in the PROS Plan it scores a five (5) and it scores a one (1) if
it’s not. Second question “What was the score on the community survey” was discussed. There is an option to
not use the community survey in the PROS plan and do a new survey. Chair Campsmith would like there to be
input from the community on Community Parks but is concerned with how timely we could get input from the
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community and how comprehensive is it. Commissioner Berger referenced the community survey in the
PROS Plan; there is not a question pertaining to any of the projects that are listed in the PROS Plan. Staff
Gerwen answered that when the PROS Plan was developed a prioritization matrix did not exist. The survey
that is in the PROS Plan may not fit into the prioritization matrix. The commission and staff could pick ten
projects out of the PROS Plan and conduct a survey asking people to choose which projects are you most
supportive of. A discussion was held and it was decided to leave the survey question on the matrix as “TBD”.
Questions to be reviewed at the next meeting are: Will this be a new service to the community? Will this
promote accessibility? The commission was asked that if they had any questions or comments to be discussed
at the meeting to submit them to staff at lease one week prior to the meeting so they can be included in the
packet.
STAFF REPORTS
Park Code Update
Staff Gerwen provided background. A sub-committee was formed in 2019 to review the Park Code. One of the
codes that was addressed was motor vehicles. Staff Gerwen felt that the language was clear regarding a
vehicle being on a road and when a vehicle is on a trail. There were a few incidents this past summer with
motorcycles being on the trails. The Police reached out to the Parks Department regarding motor vehicles and
the differentiation between trails and roads; they did not think the language was clear enough to enforce
motorcycles being on the trails. After discussion with the Law Department and Police Department staff
learned that there has been a rise in the use of ebikes and battery powered bikes and how do we deal with
those. Staff Gerwen worked with the Law Department to address the issue. The new language gives more
definition to what motor vehicles, bicycles and electric assisted bicycles are. It also further defines what a trail
is vs. a roadway. Police are satisfied with the new language and believe that they can now enforce it. The
Parks Commission discussed the new language to the Park Code and they feel comfortable with the decisions.
Chair Campsmith moved to approve the Park Code as written. Vice Chair Coggins seconded. Motion
passed.
OTHER BUSINESS
Staff Hutton reported that the Community Center has successfully opened to 25% capacity. The Community Center
will also operate as a high-volume vaccination site in the Community Room. This is a cooperative effort between
Virginia Mason and CHI Franciscan. This is scheduled to start in February.
Chair Campsmith will not be at the March meeting, Vice Chair Coggins will act as Chair.
NEXT MEETING/AGENDA ITEMS
Commission Business
Prioritization Matrix
Staff Reports
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Commissioner Berger and seconded by Commissioner George to adjourn the meeting.
Chair Campsmith adjourned the meeting at 6:22 pm.