The seasoned Oak Harbor City Parks Plan is being updated and structurally modified, just as it has been every six years for eons, to increase efficiency in complying with the Growth Management Act.

But this year, the planners are putting a unique spin on a familiar task.

Cac Kamak, city senior planner, and other staff members, including Parks Supervisor Hank Nydam, the walking bank of institutional knowledge, have been working to collate information gleaned from a public survey mailed out with utility bills last September.

The survey was designed to obtain feedback about the location, quality and quantity of city parks, as well as to gauge seasonal activity use levels, frequency of use, popular recreation activities, and willing support for improving parks.

The existing parks plan was last updated in 2001 and state law requires updates every six years for cities to remain eligible for parks and recreation grants.

Approximately 550 of the 5,000 total surveys mailed out were returned.

“We were able to draw valuable conclusions from the survey,” Kamak said. “Seasonally, winter is the slowest for recreation. That may seem trivial but may indicate the need to provide facilities to encourage higher levels of activity during that season. So, maybe that means we need an indoor facility.”

An extensive list of recreational activity choices on the survey revealed that hiking and jogging are by far the preferred aerobic activities among those polled.

“That means we have to ask ourselves if we have enough trails,” Kamak said. “Other than the City Beach Park trail, we really don’t have many.”

An advisory team composed of representatives from the different organizations, jurisdictions and boards have met periodically to discuss the planning process and ensure everyone is on the same page.

“That way, when it comes to capital projects, we will know what they entail and if they overlap,” Kamak said. “Then we can possibly work together.”

The senior planner said the city is deviating from the usual plan amendment process. Kamak and other staff are taking a different, arguably more proactive tack.

“The GMA says to update it every six years. Then you update it with public input and identify minor changes,” the planner said. “That’s what’s been done for the last 20 years.”

He added that six years is a very short timeframe for a plan to reach its full potential. The city is instead separating statements that will likely remain static each cycle. The “guiding principles” will remain untouched, allowing staff to focus on a “comprehensive list of goals.”

“These goals aren’t going to be completed in six years, but we can pull out what we hope to accomplish in the timeframe and address those chunks of projects,” Kamak said. When the six years is up, the city can check off what it has completed and quantify its progress. “And every three or four cycles, we will also revisit the guiding principles to make sure nothing needs amending there.”

The planner said the new process is logical with regards to GMA requirements.

“We’re changing our procedures to increase efficiency,” Kamak said.

Utilizing the Internet, a new trend in City Hall, the computer-savvy planner has set up a blog site displaying the results of the public survey. The site also includes a poll soliciting community feedback on the vision statement Kamak created for the plan.

“They are lengthier, philosophical statements,” he said. “That’s what you want it to be when you’re using a longer outlook. I want to hear what people think of it and finetune the statement.”

The blog site can be accessed at http://cohparkplan08.blogspot.com/