Commissioners, public go over Johnson Park concerns

With only three members left on the seven member advisory board for Johnson Park, Wahkiakum County Commissioners Mike Backman and Dan Cothren were at the Rosburg school on Tuesday to field questions about the future of Johnson Park and try to assure the Westend residents that the building would remain open.

Commissioner Blair Brady was in Walla Walla on county business and unable to attend.

"I have to agree that this turnout is awesome," Kimberly DeJesus said. "If we had this much input for everything that needs to be done around here this could be an awesome place for people to come. It doesn't take much to make Johnson Park viable."

"Get the kids involved," she suggested. "This building was built for children. I think if we get our children, our future, involved, this place might live on for a long time."

Citizens were given time to speak about concerns. There were questions about volunteers and job descriptions for board positions. One woman suggested a community garden and another began to list some of the things that needed to be done in the center or things that were just plain needed, like a good vacuum.

Concerns also included the locker rooms and the stage.

Others spoke of interpersonal and communication problems or the constant need for volunteers.

"I think it got out of balance," Cothren said. "Commissioners maybe weren't showing enough concern. I think we need to have a meeting down here once a quarter after our regular meeting. It's a county building and we need to show more interest in it. We are dedicated to it as a board. There is always going to be conflict. I think some people took ownership of doing it and exempted others from it."

County Commissioners allocated $12,000 to pay for heating this year and another $3,000 for maintenance to take some of the burden off of the board, who have raised funds to pay for heat in the past.

Wahkiakum County Auditor Diane Tischer informed the crowd that the county had received a grant that would allow them to remodel two of the bathrooms to Americans with Disabilities Act specifications and put up a ramp at the west entrance to the building.

"We are all invested in this place," Tischer said.

Backman encouraged the crowd to "get caught up in what kind of services you can have for yourselves and not about whether this paint matches the other."

As the meeting adjourned, a few interested people spoke with the commissioners about board membership, while others, interested in volunteering, provided contact information to a current board member.