Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home city staffers and volunteers stayed busy over the summer in Sankey Park cleaning and repairing features, and the city is pursuing funding for several projects in the next year to improve both Sankey and Northside parks, according to new city Planning Services Manager Laura Goodrich.
Among activities, James Goble has been actively trying to improve and repair the BMX track in Upper Sankey Park. His project is under way now, although on hold for the winter. BMX enthusiasts went out to cut weeds around the track and other community members interested in getting rid of invasive species on the hillside showed up as well, turning it into a work party.
Work parties removed English ivy from the hillside and painted the exterior of the shop and storage area and the restrooms early this summer, Goodrich said. From there, the Forest Service put together a project for its Youth Conservation Corps and removed blackberries west of Weddle Bridge, around Dahlenburg Bridge along Ames Creek. Dahlenburg had been buried in blackberries.
The YCC spent about two days working around the park, cleaning and repairing all but two interpretive signs. Those two will be repaired and reinstalled later.
Recently, Boy Scouts were out working in the park, and Andrew Allen and his high school cross country team removed weeds prior to the Harvest Festival.
In November, the Linn County juvenile work crew will spend about one day a week at the park, Goodrich said. “We would love to get some volunteers to help them. Those kids need to be exposed to people that care.”
They will work on removing invasive species, primarily English ivy, Goodrich said.
Also coming up, the city will remove several dangerous trees, potentially opening up the park a bit and letting some more light in, she said. Even during the summer, it’s dark in the park.
In 2011 the city identified several dangerous trees, said Public Works Director Mike Adams. The city doesn’t have enough funds to cut them all down, so the Tree Commission has gone out and identified the most dangerous.
The commission identified five areas with multiple trees that need to come down, Adams said. A couple are in Upper Sankey, while there are two or three in Lower Sankey. The trees are damaged or partially rotten. One is split. The cost is estimated at less than $10,000.
The Youth Conservation Corps will complete a project identifying native species around Ames Creek east of Weddle Bridge if the South Santiam Watershed Council can obtain a grant to fund the project, Goodrich said. Then the invasive species will be removed.
City Senior Engineering Technician Joe Graybill is writing an application for a grant to replace the old wooden footbridge crossing Ames Creek between the Jim Riggs Community Center and the beginning of the South Hills Trail in Sankey Park, along Ames Creek east of the playground.
The original bridge came out for repairs and maintenance, Graybill said, but it couldn’t be reinstalled because regulations would no longer allow it. The bridge was too low, and it would catch debris during high flows, he said.
The bridge must be much longer than it was and higher on the bank, Goodrich said. The goal is to provide access across the creek and to protect the stream bank, which is eroding because people are still using that location to cross Ames Creek.
Graybill is estimating the cost at about $100,000, and he is asking Weyerhaeuser for $67,500 in grant funds with a $32,500 in-kind match.
Away from Sankey, the Parks Board and Goodrich are seeking grant funds to pay for a new pavilion at Northside Park. A number of other projects are in the new Parks Master Plan for Northside, including an upgrade to the irrigation system; handicapped access to the river with covered seating and a fishing platform; weatherization and winterization of the bathrooms; and racquetball court lighting improvements.
The city receives many requests for covered space in the parks system, Goodrich said. The pavilion at Northside should help provide additional space to accommodate the requests.
The Master Plan includes projects for parks across the city,
Goodrich said. She is working with a University of Oregon team, which helped create the plan, to develop a conceptual plan for Strawberry Park, which is under-used because it has significant drainage problems.
To help meet the needs in the city’s parks system, city staff members are trying to develop an adopt-a-park program, something they still need to run by the Parks Board.
The School District, Police Department and Goodrich’s office are actively trying to change who is using parks and are making a concerted effort to eliminate the pot smoking, litter and other illegal activity.
Currently, the city has one staff member working in all of the parks, Goodrich said, so with the help of the police and school officials, she is hoping the adopt-a-park program might help change the culture in the parks. She urges people to remind others not to litter, to pressure people socially to keep the parks clean.
The city is also trying to draw people to the parks through programs like Movies in the Park, which may also be held at Northside next year, Goodrich said. Power is necessary, so that limits the number of parks that can host Movies in the Park.
Goodrich and the Parks Board are brainstorming other ideas, she said. She encourages members of the public to attend parks meetings, to help out and provide input.