Commission backs recommendation to accept donated Trex bench for Holland Gardens

The Parks & Recreation commission voted to recommend that City Council accept a donated Trex bench from the Oak Harbor Garden Club for installation at Holland Gardens.

The bench, earned by the club after completing a Trex recycling challenge, would be sited near the windmill at 770 Southeast Sixth Avenue. Brandon Cable, the park supervisor, said the club will pay for the bench, the concrete footings, hardware and labor; the city would be responsible for future maintenance.

Under Oak Harbor Municipal Code chapter 2.8, the Parks Department lacks authority to accept gifts of city property without council approval, so staff asked the commission whether to forward the item. Council member Eric Marshall and others discussed adding language to any gifting agreement that would allow the city to relocate the bench at city expense if future redesign of the park requires it. "I cannot anticipate any issue if we had to move the bench," Cable said, and staff said they would work with the garden club to include flexible gifting language.

A commissioner moved to approve the purchase/acceptance recommendation; the motion had a second on the record and passed by unanimous voice vote. The transcript records the vote as "Aye" with no individual roll-call tally recorded.

The item will proceed to City Council for formal acceptance and the council packet will include the proposed gifting language clarifying the city's maintenance responsibility and relocation rights.