Creating a Birch Bay Community Park Looks Like Hard Work

Stakeholders who could make a community park possible for Birch Bay on the Camp Horizon Park property may be coming together:

· Whatcom County has budgeted money and is seeking bids to demolish obsolete buildings on the property;

· The Lions Camp Horizon Foundation that operates a summer program for individuals with special needs is sprucing up the buildings with new roofs and painting;

· The Northwest Parks and Recreation District 2, rejuvenated by the levy approved two years ago, is completing its master plan that includes a children’s playground at the park.

Last Saturday, May 9, “Friends of Bay Horizon Park,” a small band of activists that has gained the recognition of the county, invited the community to “Come Plan Birch Bay's Community Park.” The prime mover of the Friends is Alan Friedlob, who earned a PhD in health science and was a commissioned officer on the staff of the Surgeon General. (For European vacations, he is able to fly on military aircraft.) The Northern Light publicized the event and volunteers distributed flyers to area businesses and some nearby residents.

The primary reason for the meeting was for folks to express their wishes to Rod Lamb, a county planner and landscape architect, and Lynne Givler, his colleague, who is responsible for building demolition.

Participants, most of whom expressed the need for recreation facilities for youth, got a cold shower of reality:

· While the county has money for demolition, site planning and a few amenities such as gates in the fences that now keep neighbors out, there is not much else. Lamb, who is preparing the site plan, reported that significant wetlands will require expensive mitigation;

· The Lions Foundation, which is supported by 64 clubs in Northwest Washington and Southwest British Columbia, is protective of its rights based on a 25-year lease dating from 1988.

Don Webster, the president, is a sweet guy who obviously took his congeniality pills before coming to the meeting. He expressed concern about traffic that could cause accidents and the effect of visitors on the special needs campers who range in age from eight to 80. Pointedly, he noted that the Foundation is spending $100,000 on improvements to the buildings this year and 50 volunteers – twice the number of community people at Saturday's meeting – have put in 6,000 hours of labor. And he offered to rent the facilities, such as the gymnasium, to the community. At the end of the meeting, after participants had seen restrooms in buildings that looked like they could be opened when needed, he warned that there are now no public facilities;

· When we campaigned and voted for the Park & Rec District 2 levy, we talked about playgrounds and ball fields at Camp Horizon that would augment the Pipeline fields, which, under the control of the Blaine School District, close at the end of the school year. At Saturday's meeting, Ted Morris, president of the Park and Rec District 2 commissioners, said he is looking for an alternative location for ball fields. (Pictured are a few existing swings, and, in the background, an old tire jungle. Also, a short distance away, the Loft Lane homes have their own colorful play set.)

While the some-time libertarians who write this blog respect contracts, the rule of law, etc., it seems niggardly that an organization whose motto is “We Serve” would tie up a natural community resource for 11 months of the year. For example, if a group of young men wants to play basketball in the gym on Monday and Thursday nights from December through March – should they need to pay rent to the Lions? Wouldn't modest dues to cover light and heat be enough? Similarly, do the Lions need to keep toilets out of reach if Friends are willing to pay for upkeep?

On another side of this issue, the nearby residents need to decide if they want to do what is necessary to establish and maintain a community park. They will need to contribute and solicit money to develop the ball fields and playgrounds; they can't expect the money to fall out of the County Council. And they need to volunteer to help build and maintain those facilities.

Scott Dobson, who represents the D. B. Johnson homeowners in Bay Crest, says, “It is relatively easy to build something, it is a lot harder to maintain it.”

The Friends and the county plan three more public meetings.

ak & rah