Hoodsport mulls grand reopening of parks in spring

Kirk Boxleitner | Oct 27, 20220

Port of Hoodsport commissioners devoted much of their Oct. 12 meeting to an update on the progress of tree and debris clearing at the port’s park spaces.

Port Operations Manager Kathleen Wyatt reported revenue of more than $10,000 from the more than 34 truckloads of trees that have been removed so far, which will ultimately be added to the 2023 budgets for the Port of Hoodsport trail park and disc golf course.

Commissioner Lori Kincannon said she looks forward to having that money applied to the parks’ cleanup and maintenance, while Commissioner Terry Brazil suggested some of the money could be applied to a grand reopening celebration for the parks.

Commissioner Cody Morris agreed such an event would help inform the public that not only will the debris trees have been cleared, but also the parks’ paths will have been “re-pathed” and cleaned.

Kincannon pointed out how bridge repairs and new signs need to be in place before a reopening event, and the commissioners wondered whether such an event could meet a spring deadline, which prompted Wyatt to suggest they wait to see what the weather does in the meantime.

The disc golf course is maintained largely by volunteer labor, but the trail park relies mostly on port maintenance employee Scott Lindgren.

Brazil recalled that a local teacher created lessons out of the space by having his students identify flora and fauna, and Kincannon noted that schools have expressed an interest in resuming such an arrangement. She said she expects the port will have to buy better signs for the parks.

Likewise, in order to meet a Memorial Day deadline for a reopening event, Kincannon recommended hiring “outside people, since there’s no way Scott can do all the work that’s needed by himself, especially with everything else he has to do.”

Brazil agreed, and suggested Lindgren could supervise the work of the hired help.

Forest McCullough, of Northwest Land & Tree, called in to say they had a week and a half left on the disc golf course.

McCullough planned to start work on the north side of the creek as soon as he finishes with the disc golf course, although he said he anticipated at least a couple of days of that north side work would involve some road construction.

“There’s that right of way we pushed in last time,” McCullough said. “There’s also a lot of Scotch broom growing out there, so we’ve just got to get that knocked down.”

On a positive note, McCullough reported receiving a handful of visitors in the areas where he’s worked so far “and they all say it looks really good now, maybe because they can see the finished product.”

Although the parks’ trails will be cleared, McCullough said much of the debris will be allowed to return to the forest floor.

“We have to limb (the trees) up in the woods because of all the small trees,” McCullough said. “If we haul them out with their limbs still on, it’ll be like a broom, knocking all the little trees down. Building that forest bed up is also better for the smaller trees.”

McCullough said he would leave the disc golf course with better natural drainage systems, and considered a Memorial Day reopening for the port’s parks “totally doable.”

McCullough recommended restoration forestry companies in Lacey and Tumwater to install bushes around the disc golf course.