Sammamish plans $19 million parks bond issue

Sammamish residents will vote in November, for the first time since creating their own city, whether to tax themselves to improve their park system.

The City Council voted unanimously Monday night to put a $19 million bond issue on the ballot to buy and develop parks, along with a $310,000 annual levy to operate them. If approved by voters, the bond would cost homeowners 14 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, and the levy would cost four cents per $1,000. For the owner of a $600,000 home, the cost would be $84 a year for 20 years and the operating levy — which continues indefinitely — would cost $24 a year.

Among the top projects would be the creation of a new Sammamish Landing waterfront park on land the city already owns, and conversion of the existing King County Library building into a recreation center with an emphasis on teen programs.

Since the city was created in 1999, it has built a number of parks and improved others. "This is an effort to continue that investment in things the community has said repeatedly it really wants," said city spokesman Tim Larson.

A staff report to the City Council said parks and recreation programs "are still lagging behind the needs of the community." The bond proposal is scaled down from a $35 million package proposed by an advisory committee in January 2007.

Here are the projects that would be funded by the park bond:

• $5 million to buy the existing library building for a recreation center when the King County Library System builds a larger library near City Hall. Under a tentative partnership, the Boys & Girls Club would operate a center for children and teens. The facility could be used for preschool and senior programs when teen programs aren't under way.

• $3 million to build picnic areas, docks, swimming areas, canoe pullouts and parking, and to restore habitat as the first phase of developing Sammamish Landing.

• $1.8 million for a spray park, playground upgrades, trail and additional parking at East Sammamish Park.

• $2.5 million to install artificial turf and lights on a combination soccer, lacrosse and baseball field at Pine Lake Middle School.

• $1.7 million to build a trail connecting Beaver Lake Park with Beaver Lake Preserve.

• $4 million to buy land for a new park in the northeastern part of the city, which lacks a community park.

An additional $1 million would cover bond fees.

"There's something for everybody and every age group. I'm very enthusiastic about it," said Deputy Mayor Don Gerend.

Gerend said he was particularly happy about the recreation center because one-third of the city's residents are under 18 and "the major complaint is there's not enough for the kids to do in Sammamish."

Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com