South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District commissioners have selected a Seattle-based consulting firm to design a campground on its newly purchased 30-acre property behind the high school.

The board selected J.A. Brennan Associates Landscape Architects & Planners at the district’s regular monthly meeting last week. Four firms applied to design the campground. The commissioners individually ranked each based on three sections: qualifications, experience, and reference checks.

“(J.A. Brennan) had great qualifications, great experience, and a good track record with their references,” said district Director Doug Coutts. “We got nothing but positive feedback from them and I think they’ll do a good job.”

Coutts said the district has reached out to J.A. Brennan to begin negotiations on a contract. Because of holiday schedules, Coutts was unsure when the public input phase of the design process will begin. Coutts originally predicted that public input meetings would begin in January.

“I don’t know if we can arrange enough meetings to get a contract hammered out in that time frame, but we’re going to do the best we can,” Coutts said.