Elma is located within the Chehalis River Valley, in eastern Grays Harbor County, about thirty miles west of Olympia. As a rural community, the people are caring and friendly with an independent spirit and unique identity. The City of Elma was incorporated on March 22, 1888. The City of Elma serves 3,400 citizens by delivering a full range of services while maximizing the use of its limited resources. These services include police, economic development, water and sewer utilities, street maintenance, and parks and recreation.

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Elma’s location gives its citizens access to the opportunities of larger cities while maintaining a slower pace and lower cost of living. This has made Elma an attractive place for people to relocate. Elma’s population has grown more than 10% since 2010. This grown has amplified the need for long-range planning. Historically, the City of Elma has used an ad hoc method for addressing maintenance and improvements needs, and it has not performed long-range planning in twenty years.

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Elma is committed to promoting a healthy, safe, and vibrant community. Parks and other recreation areas are a vital component to meeting these needs. They give us and our children a safe place to play, exercise, and create memories. These spaces also provide an opportunity for people to connect through sporting events and other public gatherings. Elma School District, and the City of Elma own and operate several different recreational spaces and facilities within city limits that provide both organized and informal recreational activities. These organizations believe that common parks and recreation planning gives the greatest benefit to the community.

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This growth experience by the community has intensified demand and limited availability for use of athletic fields, facilities and recreation spaces. The community’s primary recreation locations have been the Smith Murrey Park set in the center of town and Elma School District’s athletic fields. Smith Murrey Park was constructed from the City’s comprehensive parks plan developed in 1970, and the park is in need of improvements and modifications to meet current needs. The migration of people from other communities has also likely changed the needs and expectations for parks, recreation, and open spaces in the community. Elma needs to improve the ability to safely walk to local parks. Grays Harbor County operates the Vance Creek Park that is walkable distance from the City of Elma, but the only safe route to access the park is to drive to the location. There is also a need to improve the overall walkability in the community.

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The City of Elma will partner with Elma School District in developing a long-range comprehensive parks, recreation, and open space plan in accordance with guidelines set by the Recreation Conservation Office. This will achieve a better understanding of the current community’s desires and needs. It will also help set a vision for the future use for parks, recreation facilities, and other open spaces. The anticipated budget for this project is $70,000. This would cover the cost of city staff’s time for the project, advertisement for community outreach, and the hiring of a consultant that will facilitate the work and community engagement to develop the comprehensive plan. This funding will also help to hire a civil engineer and a landscape architect to plan the building of a multi-use pickleball/basketball court.

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To engage the community, the City of Elma will host outreach opportunities for community partners and residents to weigh in on what is needed most. We expect the community engagement strategy to include surveys of parks and facilities users, town hall meetings, and online surveys.  Part of the strategy in the comprehensive plan will identify landowners and communication strategies for engagement.

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In 2019, the City of Elma reestablished its Parks and Recreation Board. This citizen advisory board has initiated some small improvements to local parks, and it is ready see larger improvements with long term benefits. This group fully supports the initiative for developing a long-range plan. The City of Elma has also engaged with Grays Harbor County and Summit Pacific Medical Center to participate in the planning process.

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Grays Harbor County is currently in the process of creating its comprehensive parks and recreation plan. The County’s future plans for the Vance Creek Park are essential information to consider for the City’s long-range planning, and it presents opportunities to partner on future projects. Summit Pacific Medical Center has the vision of building the healthiest community in the Nation. As part of that vision, it is engaging Blue Zones to activate the community in Grays Harbor County. Blue Zones is an organization that applies its research to influence health transformation in a community that improves the quality of life. It is imperative to incorporate the project’s principles in the long-range plan.

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Through these combined partnerships, shared values, and funding from the Recreation and Conversation Office to develop a long-range comprehensive plan, we will be able to identify priorities for recreation and improve the health and vitality of our rural community.

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Thank you for considering our project.

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Sincerely,

 

 

Josh Collette

Elma City Council