The Committee of the Whole met on May 26, 2026 at 4:31 PM to discuss several action items, a study session preview, and informational updates. Key topics included grant applications for park turf replacement and youth climate action, the Public Art Master Plan, environmental sustainability progress, the Derby Days festival, and a contract amendment for the Maintenance and Operations Center (MOC) redevelopment. Several items were moved to the consent agenda for June 2, while the MOC contract amendment was moved to new business for further discussion.
Good afternoon. I'm calling to order May 26, 2026 at 4 31 p.m. Committee of the whole for Fox and Environment Sustainability. In uh attendance are council members. I'll start with Council President Stewart, Council Vice President Wakamina, Councilmember Kritzer, Councilmember Forsyth, Councilmember Prakriya, Councilmember Parsi, and Myself, Presiding Officer, Menka Sony. We have six items on the agenda that has been already shared with all council members in their agenda packet. And please note that one of the council uh one of the agenda items has been pulled out and will be presented later in uh other committee. So our first agenda item uh for approval is the Perigo Park Turf Replacement Youth Ethletic Facility Grant Resolution. And we have with us Parks Director Lorreen Hamilton and Lindsay Falkenberg, our parks planning manager. Good afternoon, City Council. Whoa, that's a hot mic. Um good afternoon, City. I mean, I say way back. Uh good afternoon, City Council. I'm Lorreen Hamilton, the parks director. I'm joined by our planning manager Lindsay Falkenberg. Today we're bringing through a resolution for um the application of to a state grant. Um I'll hand it over to Lindsay for the background and details on this item. Good afternoon, Council President Stewart, Council Vice President Noiva Kamina, and Council members. Today I'm here to request Council authorization to move our RCO Youth Athletic Facilities or YAF grant resolution to consent on June 2nd. This would allow the city to accept the grant if we are awarded funding. Very briefly, this grant application is for the replacement of two synthetic turf fields at Perigo Park. Perigo is one of our most heavily used athletic field complexes and serves as a major recreation hub for Southeast Redmond and Bear Creek area. These fields support soccer, lacrosse, softball, baseball, cricket, and other activities, and they provide over 3,000 scheduled hours of use annually. The reason we're pursuing this grant is that the existing turf is nearing the end of its useful life. We're seeing declining performance, user reported safety concerns, and winter closures related to the current Cork infill freezing and creating slit conditions. Based on our lifecycle planning, these fields will need to be replaced in 2028 to maintain safe and reliable play. The YAF grant is a state recreation and conservation office grant focused specifically on youth athletic facilities. We applied for the maximum request amount of 1.5 million toward a project estimated at about 3.2 million total. The RCO YAF grant does require matching funds, which the city should be able to provide with the remainder of the CIP funding requested for this project. Both CIP and grant funding would support design, removal of the existing turf, any needed base remediation, and installation of new synthetic turf and infill materials. The project would stay entirely within the existing field footprint as this is a replacement project, not an expansion. Council had asked what happens if we do not receive the grant. The answer is straightforward. The Paraguay turf replacement project is already included in a current capital investment program need. If we are not awarded funding, the CIP request would continue at the full amount needed to deliver the project. If we are successful, the grant would effectively offset about half of the project cost and reduce the city's financial burden. Council also asked about timing. We anticipate beginning design work in 2027, completing design in early 2028, and starting construction in late summer of 2028 to avoid peak field season uses. The goal would be to complete construction and reopen the fields by spring of 2029 in time for the 2029 season. Again, today's request is simply for authorization language required by the state so that if we are awarded the grant, the city can formally accept it. I'm happy to take questions and answer what I can. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Lindsay, for uh reporting out on that. Um, and also thank you to staff for keeping an eye out for where can we leverage grants? Um where this is already in the budget, it's already moving, it's in in process, uh, and this way we can reallocate those funds. So thank you for keeping an eye out now. Fingers crossed that we get the grant. Uh Councilmember Kritzer. Yeah, thank you.