At the June 3, 2021 Parks & Recreation Commission meeting, Commissioners received two draft documents essential to the next steps in the PROS Plan process. First, the project team presented the Draft Capital Project Prioritization Tool, which will provide criteria and a methodology for scoring and prioritizing capital projects for inclusion in the PROS Plan. Commissioners discussed the scoring approach, and gave feedback on which criteria may fit best for consideration of Mercer Island park projects.

Next, the project team presented draft questions for a second community survey. The survey will garner input on capital project priorities, to further refine recreation program priorities, and to explore revenue and funding alternatives. Commissioners reviewed the proposed questions and gave feedback on the themes and structure of the survey. The project team will return with a revised version of the second community survey at the July Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting.

Materials from this meeting, including these two documents, are available in the Document Library on this page.

On May 6, 2021, the Parks & Recreation Commission will resume work on the update to the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) Plan. The discussion topics will include:

• Brief report out on the March 23, 2021 Virtual Open House.
• Introduction to the parks condition assessment materials and review of initial consultant findings.
• Introduction to ADA compliance and review of related initial consultant findings.
• General discussion and Q&A on parks infrastructure.

The agenda and materials for the meeting are available here. We invite you to join the meeting through the Zoom login details located in the agenda.

The first Virtual Open House was held on March 23, 2021 using the Zoom platform. The virtual public meeting provided an opportunity to share information about the PROS Plan update and gather feedback from community members to help inform further development of the Plan. A summary of the Virtual Open House is available here and a video recording of the meeting and breakout rooms can be found here. Over 70 community members participated - thank you to those who attended for lending your time and ideas to this project!

Beaches! Trails! Pickleball! The community plays an important role in the planning process- sharing your vision for the parks and recreation system and identifying priorities for future programs and investments. We want to hear about your ideas on a range of parks topics, including waterfront parks, trails, and balancing park uses.

Register here for the virtual public meeting on Tuesday, March 23 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Zoom. The public meeting will include a number of ways to provide input, including live polling and breakout rooms. Registration requires a name and email which will help us track the number of participants and allow us assign them to the appropriate breakout sessions.

Please send any questions to PROS@mercerisland.gov.

We hope to "see" you there!

As directed by the City Council in September 2019, the Parks and Recreation Department, in collaboration with the Parks and Recreation Commission, began the process of producing an updated Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan.

Work was suspended on the PROS Plan update in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The City Council and the Parks & Recreation Commission will hold a joint study session on January 19 to discuss the kick-off of the PROS Plan now that the project is back on track.

Please see the links below to the meeting notice and agenda materials, and join us to listen in on the discussion at 5:00pm on January 19^th.

https://www.mercerisland.gov/citycouncil/page/city-council-regular-video-meeting-11

The results from the first Community Survey, conducted in February 2021, are in! The survey was mailed to a random sample of 2,500 households within the boundaries of the City of Mercer Island and available to all members of the public online.

Highlights from the survey confirmed the high value that Islanders place on parks and recreation, interest in water-oriented recreational opportunities, and a desire to preserve parks and natural areas for their wildlife and ecological value. You can read the full summary of the survey results here.

Last week we shared that we are conducting a PROS Plan survey to assess the community’s recreation and facilitation needs. If you received a paper survey in the mail last week, help us out by completing it today!

Didn’t receive a paper version? Take the survey online here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PQW2YT3

The online survey closes at 11:59 pm on March 9, so submit your responses soon!

And, to learn more about the need for both a paper survey and an online survey, read our post from last week: https://letstalk.mercergov.org/miprosplan/news_feed/community-survey

As an initial step in the PROS Plan process, we are conducting a survey to assess the community’s recreation and facilitation needs.

We’re beginning a community-driven process to update our citywide Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan (PROS Plan). With your participation, this Plan will help guide the City in providing parks and recreation services in our community. We’re calling on all our Parks & Recreation Pros in the community to help with this effort!

You might be wondering, “What is a PROS Plan, and why do we need it?”

Here are answers to 5 frequently asked questions about the PROS Plan.

1. What is a PROS Plan?

P.R.O.S. stands for Parks, Recreation, and Open Space. This six-year plan guides the programming and capital projects required to meet the community’s needs for parks, recreation, and open space, as well as trails, arts, and cultural events.

2. Why do we need a PROS Plan?

A PROS Plan is required to maintain the city’s eligibility for grant funding through the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) and keeps us competitive for other grant programs. From 2014-2019, Mercer Island Parks & Recreation was awarded $673,000 in RCO funding alone! The PROS Plan also assesses our current facilities and helps us prioritize needs for capital reinvestment and new facilities.

3. Who leads the PROS Plan?

The City’s new Parks and Recreation Commission will guide the process with support from City staff. We also need you, our Parks & Recreation Pros to participate! All ages, activity levels and lifestyles can participate– everyone’s voice counts. If you participate with other organizations other than Parks & Recreation for your favorite activities, we still want to hear from you and how our services may benefit you.

4. How can you participate in the PROS Plan?

Lend your expertise as a Parks & Recreation Pro throughout the process! A community wide online survey will be available soon right here on Let's Talk. More opportunities to share input will come in 2020 and include stakeholder discussions, family friendly outreach events, and more.

5. What is the timeline for the PROS plan?

The bulk of the planning process will take place next year, and we are tentatively targeting the end of 2020 for final Plan review and adoption. Stay tuned to Let’s Talk for key dates and to learn more about how you can participate.

Interested in learning more about the current 2014 - 2019 Parks & Recreation Plan?

View the 2014 - 2019 Parks & Recreation Plan here!