Oak Harbor officials have $1.3 million to spend on improving Windjammer Park and a lot of ideas from the public and city staff.

A community survey showed that rebuilding a windmill was by far the most popular idea for park improvements, but it appears that city officials will leave that project to a private fundraising effort. In fact, the city council is scheduled during a Wednesday meeting to consider an agreement with the Oak Harbor Rotary Club to place a new windmill in the park.

Last week, city staff presented the council with results of the year-old survey on community priorities for the park. The current funding is only enough to pay for some of the work proposed for future phases of the park, so prioritization is key.

The large waterfront park was completely remodeled as part of the construction of the sewage treatment plant. The multi-million-dollar, first-phase work was completed in 2017. The city removed the iconic windmill from the park due to safety concerns over deterioration, although some people argued at the time that it could be fixed.

Replacing the windmill received twice as many votes as any other proposed improvement. Yet Brian Smith, the Parks and Recreation director, noted that the windmill project scored high at a time when there was a community fervor about replacing it due to plans to install the Angel de la Creatividad sculpture in the park; council later decided to install the sculpture in Flintstone Park.

Councilmember Bryan Stucky pointed out that the presentation was somewhat confusing, with the top priorities identified as different things on different pages. Communications Manager Sabrina Combs explained that she tried to account for both answers to multiple choice questions and written-in answers.

The presentation identified the top three “most important items” as the windmill, the picnic areas and shoreline enhancements. In addition, an amphitheater or pavilion improvements, a dog park and “create a great lawn” were identified as priorities. Residents who responded to the survey also offered other ideas, such as providing activities of all ages, keeping the baseball fields, adding more trees and improving the lagoon.

The staff members included their own recommendations based on the feedback, recent storm damage and problems with park facilities. The splash park, which was built only four years ago, needs to be repaired and upgraded. Smith said the facility isn’t programmable and, as a result, the cost of water was as much as $200,000 a year, although the city was able to cut the usage in half through conservation efforts, Smith said.

Other staff recommendations are to repair the shoreline and walking paths damaged by storms; enhance the pavilion for entertainment events; add a covered area for picnics and seating; improve the rental facilities by adding barbecue grills and fixing the locks; plan for more shaded areas; and improve the interpretive center.

The city has an estimated $408,000 project funding balance earmarked for outreach and design work for park improvements. Also, the city’s six-year Capital Improvement Plan has $676,000 for improvements and an additional $250,000 in the year 2027.