### Meeting Overview The City of Bellingham Parks and Recreation Committee met on April 27, 2026, to review an annual report on Greenways and Park Impact Fee programs for 2025 and receive updates on Parks Operations Division activities. The committee heard presentations covering significant park system growth, funding strategies, and operational accomplishments. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Greenways Levy:** A voter-approved property tax that provides dedicated funding for park acquisition, development, maintenance, and climate resiliency projects. The fifth iteration brought in $9.9 million in 2025. **Park Impact Fees:** Mandatory fees collected from new residential development to help fund park improvements and acquisitions in the service areas where development occurs. Must be spent within 10 years of collection. **Wetland Mitigation:** Required environmental restoration work to offset impacts to wetlands and wetland buffers from park construction projects. The city maintains these sites in perpetuity. **Washington Conservation Corps:** A state-run crew program that provides seasonal workers to help with stewardship, wetland mitigation, and restoration projects in city parks. **Individual Park Steward Program:** A volunteer program where community members adopt specific park areas for ongoing maintenance and restoration work, currently supporting 92 active volunteers. **Service Areas:** Geographic zones (citywide and neighborhood) that determine where park impact fees collected from specific developments can be spent, ensuring benefits reach the areas creating the impact. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Edwin H. "Skip" Williams | Committee Chair, Council Member | | Hannah Stone | Council President | | Dan Hammill | Committee Member | | Jace Cotton | Committee Member | | Nicole Oliver | Parks and Recreation Director | | Peter Gil | Planning and Development Coordinator | | Zach Cook |…