Hear Ye, Hear Ye - A Public Hearing

Our "door" at Bellevue Parks & Community Services is always open to thoughts, comments, opinions and ideas about how to improve the park system - so please feel free to e-mail or call me anytime. However, the organized comment gathering opportunities for the update to the Parks & Open Space System Plan are nearing an end. One of the final chances will be a public hearing hosted by the City's Parks & Community Services Board. The more information on that meeting is provided below.

The Parks & Community Services Board is a seven member committee of Bellevue residents who have applied and been appointed to this board by the City Council. They serve in an advisory role and review much of the work that goes on in the department before plans and projects are presented to the City Council. They will review the Parks & Open Space Plan draft and provide a recommendation to the City Council on approval in just a few months.

If you have never been to a public hearing and would like to know more about how they work before you show up, give me a call or e-mail. We can also take comments in writing if that is more convenient or comfortable for you. They will be entered into the official record in the same way as verbal testimony at the hearing.

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NOTICE

The public is invited to a public hearing on Tues., Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. to provide input regarding long-term acquisition and capital improvement objectives for Bellevue’s Parks & Open Space System. The public hearing will be held during the Parks & Community Services Board regular meeting at Bellevue City Hall, 450 110th Avenue NE, in Room 1E-108.

The Bellevue Parks & Open Space System Plan will guide development of parks and open space over the next 20 years. It also considers the design and balance of programs and services supported by the department, and how these may change over time to meet the needs of the community.

Written comments will also be accepted and may be mailed to Camron Parker, Senior Planner, Parks & Community Services, City of Bellevue, P.O. Box 90012, Bellevue, Washington, 98009-9012; or sent by e-mail to cparker@bellevuewa.gov. Comments must be received by 5:00 P.M. on January 12, 2010.

Translation and American Sign Language services are available with 48 hours advance notice. Please call (425) 455-4162 (voice) or 711 (TDD Relay Service) for interpretation services.

Photography and Poetry Contest

We visit parks for many reasons. One reason is to surround yourself with beauty. Beauty can be found in many ways and in many places.

It is found deep in the forests of Coal Creek Natural Area, where you can watch a rain drop cling to the tip of a fern. It is found in the Bellevue Botanical Garden, where skilled hands design and arrange fantastic displays. It is found observing the joyful face of a toddler on her first trip down a playground slide or in the high-five of two teenagers as they defeat gravity on a skate park ramp.

For most of us, this beauty is indescribable. We recognize it, appreciate it and move on. However, there are a few among us who know how to capture this beauty through words or images so that we can all share in the experience.

We are looking for these few.

As we continue the task of updating Bellevue’s Parks & Open Space System Plan, we are hoping to engage the creative community by interspersing throughout the document photos and poetry that are inspired by our parks system.

If you, or someone you know, is blessed with the gift of verse, or can compose the perfect camera shot, please consider participating.

Click here for more details.