South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District looks into agency cooperation

The South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District is considering a proposal for a Memorandum of Understanding between the parks district, the Port of South Whidbey, Island County and the City of Langley.

The South Whidbey Parks and Recreation District is considering a proposal for a Memorandum of Understanding between the parks district, the Port of South Whidbey, Island County and the City of Langley.

Doug Coutts, park director, explained that the Memorandum of Understanding is very general, and “basically states that all the groups will work together.”

Commissioners reviewed the draft at a board meeting last month, and were generally in favor of its intention.

Mark Helpenstell, board commissioner, requested that language be added to the memorandum stating that any party may withdraw from the memorandum without disrupting the continued cooperation of the others.

Coutts said that the Port of South Whidbey would like to include a request for quarterly meetings in the memorandum and would also like to consult with their attorneys to ensure the legality of the details of the memorandum before proceeding further.

He said representatives from each of the groups plan to meet later this month to discuss possible revisions to the draft.

Coutts added that the memorandum includes the parks and recreation district boundaries and allows for mutual aid to each group when possible.

Coutts clarified in a phone interview with The Record that the mutual aid would likely not be financial, but a sharing of knowledge and resources. He added that it may include money-saving tactics like group purchasing as well.