Here are my notes from last night’s meeting on the status of the Summit at John park plan. The budget shortfall is even greater than the $80k number somebody came up with at the previous design review. But exactly how much money is needed is complicated!

• The parks department currently has $168,000 on hand to build the near-$300k design.
• Construction of the park — originally slated for this fall — is being pushed back until next fall to give community groups time to raise funds.
• If no money is raised, the park will be built in ‘phase 1’ design only meaning no path, fewer trees and much simpler layout.
• But that seems unlikely as the Capitol Hill Community Council’s open space committee, Unpaving Paradise, is destined to succeed in fundraising, the city rep announced confidently last night.
• Depending on how quickly funds are raised, the construction plan will either include two phases or the entire park design will be built at the same time.
• It will reportedly be much cheaper — approximately $55 grand cheaper — to build it all in one phase.
• Neither plan — one phase or two phase — includes construction of park ‘bonus items’: picnic tables, bbq grill, bike rack, skateboard feature and compost silos.
• You can see the estimated budget requirement for each bonus item in the image included in this post. And, oh, btw, the items are in what the parks department considers to be priority order based on community input. So, you get that grill you so badly wanted. Probably.
• You get that grill you want if ‘the community’ (Unpaving Paradise, other groups) can raise enough funds above and beyond the base construction costs.
• It appears the skate feature (and presumably the line items above it) is a done deal as the skate lobby reps were present at the meeting in full force and talking about money in the bank for just such an effort.
• Other features will likely be funded by a combination of small donations from neighbors like you and larger gifts where somebody dedicates a table and gets a little plaque or somesuch. Or a grill — it only takes $800! You should totally donate a grill in honor of your grandma.
• If the decorative compost silos (no, not functional) get built, somebody is in trouble.

All of the boring, important stuff is above. But my favorite bullet points are these three juicy items:

1. The city as of this week is operating the parking lot where the park is going to be built. City rep said starting now all proceeds from the lot will go to the park’s budget until construction begins. So, park for a park.
2. The naming process will start soon and the city will be taking nominations. I like I-5 Shores Park. You?
3. This budget situation is not unusual. In fact, I got laughed at when I asked how many other parks are in this situation in the city. Turns out, this is how a modern city budgets for things like parks. Fortunately, ‘the community’ is there to close the gap.