Let's not toss the park out with the fish water

The Yamhill County park system features almost three times more undeveloped, natural or restricted-access properties, some 164.3 acres, than it does actually developed and publicly accessible properties, just 59.2 acres.

Yes, the county finds itself strapped for revenue. Understandably, commissioners have never proposed a voter-approved local option levy to increase property taxes, but recently they agreed to forgo more than $12 million in tax revenue from Hampton Lumber for a mill already under construction and automated enough to substantially reduce local employment.

That being the case, it makes no sense for the county to sell off the largest single developed and accessible property in its entire 18-site inventory — 12.4-acre Crabtree Park, just off Worden Road four miles north of Dundee.

Yet one of four options it currently has under consideration for Crabtree would do just that. And shockingly, at least one county commissioner, newcomer Kit Johnston, said he was even open to sale of the 55-year-old parkland mainstay to a private party.

The impetus for this sudden crisis of confidence? The need to replace a 24-inch culvert conveying Hess Creek under the park’s Knudsen Road access route.

That would normally be a rather routine piece of maintenance work for either the county, which accepted donation of the site for dedicated park purposes in 1968, or the Chehalem Park & Recreation District, which has developed its substantial network of facilities and managed them under lease for more than 50 years.

It would be, that is, if Hess Creek didn’t feature a viable fish population. But it does, and the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife requires at least a much larger culvert in such cases, if not an actual bridge.

The parks district commissioned a study that showed ODFW would be willing to sign off on a culvert replacement running $203,000. But the county recently let the agency’s second consecutive 25-year lease expire, so it’s not clear who’s actually on the hook for the work.

What’s more, it seems neither the county nor the parks district ever secured an easement providing legal access via Knudsen Road, which the Chehalem Valley Sportsman’s Club has also been using for decades to access its adjacent shooting range. And Knudsen Vineyards, which could convey such easement, is demanding culvert replacement in exchange.

Yes, it’s crazy complicated. That’s largely due to a series of oversights and breakdowns, which don’t seem readily excusable.

But we don’t see how the $200,000 snafu could possibly be twisted into justification for sale of a parkland gem that hosts reunions, weddings and other events, in addition to providing a dog-friendly trail network and wooded picnic grounds.

Surely, the county, park district, sportsman’s club and winery can put their heads together and work out a serviceable culvert replacement/road easement solution — one serving to preserve the public’s interests as well as their own. It seems to us that there should be plenty enough benefit to go around.

We would also urge the county to reward the parks district with another 25-year lease. That’s only fitting in recognition of the extensive investment the district has made over the last half century in turning bare land into a highly developed park and managing it effectively on behalf of the park-going public.

We view $200,000 as a daunting sum for a lesser entity, including, perhaps, the Sportsman’s Club. We don’t see it looming nearly as large for entities operating on the scale of the county, district and winery.

It’s time to find the money and move on. Let’s just chalk it up to a lesson learned, all the way around.