Neither Chehalis Public Works nor Community Services has a use for the Duffy Park site, Public Works Director Tim Grochowski reported Monday.
The fate of the city-owned property, though, still remains uncertain.
Monday night, Chehalis councilors heard a report of the results of a study over whether to use a 4.5-acre site at the top of Prospect Avenue to build a future reservoir for the city.
The $40,000 study by TJF & Associates of Tumwater was approved in November 2005. It reviewed the feasibility of a portion of the city's Capital Improvement Plan called Project No. 16, Valley View Reservoir and Pump Station Pre-design. The high-level reservoir was to be done in 2005, but was never completed. It has now been budgeted for this year.
The issue came about in September 2005, when Chehalis began considering declaring surplus the unused city site most recently referred to as Duffy Park. The property has been owned by the city since 1902, but has never actually been used as a park. Neighbors of the property, members the Klumper family, have inquired about purchasing the property to preserve their view corridor, and to keep the site a green belt.
Under concerns from neighbors and Grochowski's wish to look into its use for Project No. 16, councilors tabled a decision on the site's surplus at least until the study was concluded.
Because the Duffy Park site is located 200 feet south of the existing Valley View Reservoir site, it had been discussed as a location for a new reservoir. A deficiency of storage for about 65,800 gallons has been identified in the city, mainly owing to the goal of 120,000 gallons stored for fire suppression.
Grochowski reported Monday night TJF & Associates concluded the 4.5-acre property was not the preferred site for such a project.
Chehalis also has additional land directly adjacent to the Valley View Reservoir that is large enough to build a new reservoir, Grochowski noted. That site, because of its elevation and proximity to the existing reservoir, would make the reservoir between $15,000 and $50,000 less expensive compared with Duffy Park.
"We do not need it," Grochowski told councilors. "And I've talked with Community Services Director Joanne Schwartz, and they apparently do not need it either."
The potential use of the site as learning forest was also considered by the Chehalis School District, but the district later declined.
Though it is certain Public Works has no use for the site, it is still uncertain what the council intends to do with the property. Councilors expressed a wish late last year to eventually revisit the idea of declaring surplus the unused site after the reservoir study was completed, but at that time opinions were split whether to take the property off the tax rolls or keep it for another potential use. An appraisal of the past year determined it could fetch the city a price of about $120,000.
