On a recent sunny day, Commissioner Garrido ventured into one of the gems of the Kitsap County Parks system – Coulter Creek Heritage Park. This is one of the least known parks in the County, and is one of the biggest at almost 1200 acres. Kitsap County’s forester, Arno Bergstrom, joined Commissioner Garrido to explore the park and review some of its features for a taping of Commissioner’s Corner, which can be viewed here.

The land now known as Coulter Creek Heritage Park was owned by the McCormick family for many years. Much of it was used for logging, so portions were replanted with Douglas Fir trees, limiting the diversity that characterizes a healthy forest. Other parts are more ecologically diverse, with a variety of mature second growth trees. Some of the land was also a Christmas tree farm, and the trees have continued to grow, though do not function as a natural and diverse forest.

Fortunately, individual citizens, biologists and foresters collaborated to create a forest stewardship plan to address the long-term health of the park and the forests, streams and wildlife habitat. A planning process will be launched to manage the park for open space, wildlife habitat, public access and recreation. Commissioner Garrido and Kitsap County invite volunteers who would like to be a part of this unique opportunity as stewards of Coulter Creek Heritage Park. If you want to volunteer, please visit the Parks Department volunteer page. Or, visit the park by traveling on trails leading from McCormick Woods, as well as Sunnyslope and Lake Flora Roads.

South Kitsap Regional Park is now home to a Forest Explorer Trail! The trail, largely funded by a grant from the National Recreation and Park Association and the Walt Disney Company, opened to the public with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 8.

The 1/3-mile trail, called “Boomer’s Explorer Trail,” has interactive features that encourage learning about nature and physical activity, including a compass, stepping stones, a hole climb, and more. A Welcome to the Neighborwood map is available to guide visitors to the sites. A sign at each location explains the feature and activity associated with it, with narration by Boomer the Mountain Beaver.

Thank you to the many local businesses and groups contributing funding and volunteer labor to the trail. These include the Port Orchard Rotary, Columbia Bank, South Kitsap High School track team and Marcus Whitman Middle School.

Commissioner Garrido and the Manchester Citizens Advisory Committee (MCAC) welcomed community members to an open house at Manchester Elementary School on October 2. Visitors learned about projects in the Manchester area and information on various organizations that serve the area. The Manchester Fuel Depot, South Kitsap School District, League of Women Voters, Manchester State Park, Friends of the Library, the Port of Manchester and the Manchester Community Association participated to raise awareness of their organizations and converse with people about projects, issues and events coming up. Representatives on hand from Kitsap County government were from the Sheriff’s Office, Public Works, and the Department of Community Development.

The MCAC serves as a forum for community discussion and facilitates communication between Manchester residents and Kitsap County. Meetings are on the first Tuesday of every month at the Manchester Library at 6:30 pm. If you are interested on serving on the committee, there are current openings for representatives from the California and Nebraska neighborhoods, as well as one at-large position. For more information, visit the MCAC web page or contact Jennifer Haro at jharo@co.kitsap.wa.us or (360) 307-4212.

If you have visited Qaqad Park – the stormwater park across from the Manchester Grill – you may have noticed new metal salmon art gracing the fountain feature in the northwest corner of the park. Those beautiful salmon were created by Kitsap County Public Works employees David Lind and Adrian Eckstrom specifically for the park. The three salmon sculptures complement the salmon etched on the concrete in the park, as well as remind visitors of what the stormwater park is all about – cleaning up the Puget Sound.

Commissioner Garrido visited Adrian and David in their shop at the Public Works Annex on October 22 and got to see how they create their art. The county is lucky to have talented employees that can create such stunning art. Please visit Qaqad Park to see for yourself. If you haven’t visited before, you will learn how this beautiful public space filters stormwater flowing into Puget Sound to benefit salmon and all the other wildlife living in the Sound.

The planned village of small cabins for people who have no home is moving along. The village, which will be located on property owned by the Church of Christ just outside of Port Orchard, hosts­­14 tiny house cabins, with a shared bathroom/shower/laundry facility and a kitchen and gathering space. There will also be a security checkpoint, secure case management office, and a small storage building.

The Homes for All Coalition is finalizing site design details with an engineering firm that volunteer their services. Additional functions include parking, a community garden space, a walking path in the “village,” and a pet sanitation area. A generous donor has agreed to supply sprinkler systems for the cabins, which will be installed by South Kitsap Fire & Rescue. The case management and property management details are being finalized as well.

A series of four public meetings held across the county helped to inform interested citizens of the efforts underway on this unique solution to house some of the county’s most vulnerable residents. For more information, visit the Homes For All website.