New parks and recreation director lays out priorities: staffing, playground upgrades and public programs

At their first official meeting with the Oak Harbor Parks & Recreation advisory board, the city’s newly installed Parks and Recreation director introduced themselves and described a broad workplan that includes staffing, playground upgrades, new programming and closer coordination with other city boards.

"This is my first time here with the parks board," the director said, outlining roughly 30 years of recreation experience and several large municipal projects they have led. The director said the new department will initially include marina operations, senior services and parks operations and that staff will likely expand over time as revenue and budgets are secured.

Key near-term priorities the director listed include recruiting to replace a retiring parks crew member and hiring additional labor and administrative support; revamping playgrounds and replacing pea gravel surfacing with engineered wood fiber (with a longer-term goal of switching to poured-in-place surfacing where feasible for improved accessibility); and creating new trails and regional playgrounds. "We'll probably move to engineered wood fiber for all the playgrounds that have pea gravel," the director said, noting poured-in-place is the ideal for accessibility and safety.

The director also emphasized community engagement and partnerships. They said the department will coordinate with the Main Street Association, the Chamber and the Marina board on downtown beautification and special events, and that the board will be asked to review mock-ups for hanging baskets and other downtown treatments. The director said they plan to bring training and speakers to board meetings to build board capacity and to work with the council on code and ordinance revisions where needed.

On public-safety adjacencies, the director noted an encampment near Oak Grove observed during site visits has been cleaned up and said staff will coordinate with police and fire on transient- and safety-related issues in parks. The director asked board members to notify staff if they see encampments adjacent to parks so staff can address them quickly.

Next steps the director outlined include staff-led recruitment for vacant positions, proposed bylaw revisions to clarify a youth-seat process, follow-up meetings with public-safety officials, and incremental capital work on playgrounds and downtown beautification. The director invited board members to participate in planning and public outreach as those items proceed.