Big news! The City Council adopted the 2022 Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan at the City Council meeting on March 1. Much gratitude to the Parks & Recreation Commission for the time and effort they have given over the past two years on this important project, and a big ‘thank you’ the Arts Council and Open Space Conservancy Trust for their support.

City staff will file the Plan with the State’s Recreation & Conservation Office for grant eligibility, and get to work on projects identified for immediate action.

The fine-tuning is complete, and the final version of the 2022 PROS Plan is here!

The document is now ready for adoption by resolution at the March 1 City Council meeting. Once adopted, the Plan will go on record with the State's Recreation & Conservation Office and City staff will begin work on a handful of projects identified for immediate attention. These include design for athletic field upgrades at Island Crest Park, joint master planning for Clarke and Groveland beaches and MICEC Annex facility planning.

On February 15, 2022, the City Council held a Public Hearing on the PROS Plan Final Draft which included a public comment period, a review of the proposed goals and objectives, a review of the Six-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP), and a discussion of proposed changes. A recording of that meeting is available here and the materials are located in the Document Library. Staff received consensus on minor changes to the Final Draft, and are working to incorporate these into the Final Plan.

What's changed? Council directed staff to include funding in the six-year CIP to determine the feasibility, possible locations, and early design images for a spray park within the parks system. Adjustments to the CIP materials are being updated to reflect this addition.

The Plan will be ready for adoption by Resolution at the March 1 City Council meeting. Once adopted, the City’s eligibility for parks-related capital grants through the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) will be restored.

Staff is recommending the City Council take action to concurrently appropriate funding to begin work on a number of capital projects in 2022, including design for upgrades at the Island Crest Park athletic fields, joint master planning for Clarke and Groveland beaches and MICC Annex Facility Planning for related projects.

The February 15 City Council meeting will discuss the Final Draft of the 2022 PROS Plan as it moves forward toward adoption. The meeting will include:

• A public hearing on the PROS Plan Final Draft (see here).
• A review of the proposed goals and objectives.
• A review of the Six-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP), a planning level document that identifies the capital projects intended to be funded and completed for the period from 2023 to 2028 (see a recording of this presentation here and the presentation materials here).

Staff will seek consensus from a majority of the City Council on proposed changes to the PROS Plan Final Draft at this meeting, so that amendments may be incorporated into the Final PROS Plan for adoption by the City Council on March 1 (or March 15 depending on the extent of the proposed changes).

Please join us for this important community discussion! Meeting materials are available here, including instructions on how to view and participate with public comment.

On January 24, 2022, a notice was issued for a non-project State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review of the 2022 PROS Plan. The SEPA process identifies and analyzes environmental impacts associated with issuing permits for private projects, constructing public facilities, or adopting regulations, policies, and plans. As the PROS Plan itself does not require permitting or construction, it is categorized under "non-project" review, and will garner feedback and guidance on how the overall plan and potential projects may affect the environment.

SEPA review includes a 30-day public comment period which will conclude on February 23, 2022.

On February 15, the City Council will hold a Public Hearing on the PROS Plan at their regularly scheduled meeting (via Zoom). More details to come!

At the January 18, 2022 City Council Meeting, the Parks and Recreation Commission officially presented the Final Draft of the 2022 PROS Plan to the City Council. Commissioners shared their experience in developing the Plan thus far, and answered questions from Councilmembers on specific elements of the Plan.

Mayor Nice stated the following after the Commission's presentation: "The City Council greatly appreciates the work of the Parks and Recreation Commission over the past 27 months. With numerous meetings, public engagement by survey and open house, and countless hours of studying and learning about the elements of a PROS plan, you have contributed to a forward looking and comprehensive guide for Mercer Island’s parks, opens spaces and recreation services. As a token of our thanks, commission members will receive a certificate of appreciation and a small gift for your excellent work on this topic."

Councilmembers and the project team will discuss the PROS Plan again at the February 15 City Council meeting. This public hearing will include a more detailed discussion of the Capital Improvement Plan and projects list, as well as implementation strategies and future work stemming from the Plan.

January 18, 2022 meeting materials can be found here.

At their January 6, 2022 meeting, the Parks and Recreation Commission approved the Final Draft of the 2022 PROS Plan. The Plan will be presented to the City Council on January 18 for discussion with the Commission, and the Council's review will begin.

Please find the Final Draft here. The Plan's accompanying appendices can be found here. The Capital Improvement Plan materials can be found here. All materials are also located in the Document Library to the right of this page, under 2022 PROS Plan Final Draft.

This is an exciting step toward the culmination of this project and the adoption of the Plan!

The Final Draft of the 2022 PROS Plan is now available for review!

At the December 9, 2021 Parks & Recreation Commission meeting, Commissioners and representatives from the Arts Council and Open Space Conservancy Trust Board discussed revisions to the Preliminary Draft of the Plan. That feedback was incorporated into the Final Draft. Other changes made between the Preliminary Draft and the publishing of the Final Draft are all non-substantive and include minor grammatical edits, page number corrections, formatting, photos exchanged for clarity or design, and additional context included for certain graphs or visuals.

The Commission will meet on Thursday, January 6, 2022 to review the Final Draft and finalize the conveyance memo that will accompany the Plan when presented to City Council. This hand-off to the Council will occur at a joint meeting with the Commission on January 18.

Check out the PROS Plan Final Draft and the other materials for the upcoming Parks & Recreation Commission meeting, and join us on Zoom on January 6th!

The Parks & Recreation Commission will meet on Thursday, December 9 at 5:30pm. Agenda topics include final revisions to the Preliminary Draft of the 2022 PROS Plan before it heads to City Council, potential adoption of the Recreation Division's Facility Use & Allocation Policy, and a department report. Agenda materials and instructions to join the meeting are available here.

The PROS Plan Preliminary Draft is complete! The full draft is available here.

The Parks & Recreation Commission will meet on Thursday, December 9 to discuss final edits in preparation to hand-off to the City Council in January. Councilmembers will then review the draft and discuss changes to be ready for adoption in March. We're excited to share this milestone in the progress of the PROS Plan project!