Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home City Council last week held off on signing an agreement with the University of Oregon to develop a concept plan for Sankey Park until after the Parks Board can discuss the issue and send a possible recommendation to the council.
The council considered the agreement during its regular meeting on June 14. The proposed agreement is to pay the UO Community Planning Workshop $10,800 to develop a concept plan for the park.
The organization, which includes students and professors, developed the Sweet Home Park System Master Plan in 2013 and a concept plan for Strawberry Park last year.
The Community Planning Workshop engaged the public at an event held at Strawberry Park, and then created and presented three alternatives during a Sankey Park Movies in the Park event last year. Members of the public identified proposed features they most liked from the three plans.
The council adopted a final master plan for Strawberry Park in November.
Based on the positive and effective process for developing the Strawberry Park plan, the Parks Board decided to follow the pattern for Sankey Park, said Public Works Director Mike Adams.
Parks Board Chairwoman Jane Hazen protested the plan and asked the council to look at alternatives.
“That contract was initiated and developed without discussion, review or recommendation by the Parks Board,” Hazen told the council.
“There was no opportunity to either set criteria for what the community needs or desires or evaluate the current planning process. There was no opportunity to reevaluate the work produced for the Strawberry Hills Concept Plan before giving new work to the same contractor. The Sankey Park Concept Plan was merely reported to the parks Board on April 18 as a done deal.”
She said the city hasn’t completed a cost-benefit analysis comparing previous contracts and alternatives from the Parks Board.
The city has had no open bidding process and provided no opportunity for the Parks Board to encourage or engage community members, professionals, civic activists and volunteers to develop their own work groups, Hazen said.
She asked the council to give the Parks Board time to recruit a community-based work group of professionals and parks advocates, stakeholders, users, residents and visitors to develop long-term plans for Sankey park.
“In the future, I strongly advocate that the Parks Board be included in creating a more active communication link between our community and our council,” Hazen said. “It is our responsibility as Parks Board members to represent to you the needs of our community.”
City Attorney Robert Snyder told the council that this is “basically a personal services contract” with another government agency, with the intent of improving efficiency in local government.
In general, for contracts under $25,000, the city does not need to use a formal bidding process, he said. It just needs three quotes.
Councilor Greg Mahler said that this proposal is nothing new. It has been mentioned in at least three meetings he can think of.
Councilor Jeff Goodwin said the process for Strawberry was fun, but “I’d rather take that $10,000 and put it straight into the parks.”
Mayor Jim Gourley said that this process can help the city plan specifically how and where to put different features in the park, ensuring that the city doesn’t need to move things around multiple times.
“With all due respect, I don’t think the Parks Board was left in the dark on this,” said Councilor Dave Trask. “We talked about it many, many times.”
He doesn’t know if anyone in Sweet Home has the appropriate skills, Trask said, but the Parks Board could talk about it during its regular meeting on Monday. If the Parks Board wants to go a different way, the council can look at it at its next meeting.
The council sent the issue to the Parks Board and planned to discuss it again during its next regular meeting, June 28, after Parks Board discussion.
The Parks Board did not discuss the matter Monday. See the story below.
Present at the June 14 meeting were James Goble, Ryan Underwood, Mahler, Gourley, Trask and Goodwin. One council seat is vacant.