The Sitka Assembly is moving forward with a discussion over whether or not to put $20,000 towards a Parks and Recreation Master Plan. At its regular meeting on Tuesday (7-14-26), the majority of assembly members rejected the funding, but the issue still advanced because of a rule in the city charter.
Leaders and supporters of the Sitka’s Parks and Recreation program are developing a plan for its future. The Sitka Recreation Foundation, an outside organization that advocates for parks and green spaces, is leading the charge.
They hired a contractor, Corvus Design, to complete the multi-phase plan. The project launched in June. Parks and Recreation Manager Kevin Knox said it’s far overdue.
“I do want to note that the last time we had a comprehensive recreation plan for the city was 1991,” he said.
Knox said the plan, which they hope to have finalized by January, is expected to cost at least $61,000.
The city entered into an agreement with the recreation foundation earlier this year to help raise money for the project, and contributed about $15,000 as seed funding. Knox said while the foundation has already raised 20K with plans to raise more, they need more support from the city to complete the “visioning, community engagement, and conceptual design phases.”
“Active community discussions have highlighted pressing infrastructure deficiencies lately that we plan to address, specifically regarding athletic fields, dark park accessibility, and modernizing our other outdoor recreational facilities,” he said.
Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said the agreement indicates the recreation foundation will do the heavy funding lift, and its request for additional funding doesn’t necessarily align with that.
“Do we want to do it? That is the question to me. Do we want to do this? Originally, we were talking about ownership of the project, right? And we were going to have a little seed money in this, and it was going to be SRF’s thing. At this point, this has become our project,” he said. “Does the municipality want to own the project at this point? Because I don’t think any of us are debating the worthiness of it. It’s the ownership of it.”
Assembly Member JJ Carlson said she was on board with the city’s initial contribution, but now it seems like they were “sold something that hasn’t been delivered.”
“This is becoming different than I thought we were getting into six months ago,” she said.
Assembly Member Thor Christianson said there’s a lot of public interest in the plan, and for him, it isn’t so much about the dollar amount. It’s more a question of if this plan is actually a priority for the city.
“It’s no surprise to me that they are having to struggle to raise money from donations,” he said. “And it’s no surprise that it’s costing more than they really thought it was. I mean, almost everything we do these days is that way. The real question is, do we want to do this? Do we want this plan to happen, and are we willing to spend some money to do it?”
Ultimately, assembly members Christianson and Kevin Mosher voted in favor of the appropriation, with Carlson, Scott Saline, and Eisenbeisz opposed. While this would normally kill the item, the city’s charter requires a majority of seven for an ordinance to fail, even if there aren’t seven assembly members present.
The assembly will discuss the item again at its meeting on July 28.
