TD Council gives thumbs up to water local parks

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Mar 25

File Photo - Mallory Branson holds one-year-old Cedar as her boys Zander and Lief give a thumbs up on the new Tree Top Playground at Sorosis Park on Saturday, Jan. 18. The Dalles City Council agreed to pay for $152,000 worth of water for irrigation at Parks & Rec. that will pay for irrigation water.

By Tom Peterson

The Dalles, Ore., March 24, 2025 — The Dalles City Council voted to permanently fund the cost of water to irrigate local parks and fields at their regular meeting on March 23.

Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation Director Scott Baker thanked the Council for the approval.

“Thank you for your support in The Dalles,” he said. “We work hard to make The Dalles an awesome place to live.”

He pointed to how vibrant Sorosis park is since its redevelopment as well as the use at the expanded Skate Park and new Pump Track near at the corner of Cherry Heights and West Second streets.

City Manager Matthew Klebes will enter into a Intergovernmental Funding Agreements with Wasco County and Parks & Rec in weeks to come.

The agreements will provide city funding to cover water service costs for the county's Kramer Fields and the district's parks, totaling $192,000.

That in turn, will free up funds for other park services for both the Park District and Wasco County.

The agreement follows the council's November 2024 decision to amend the city's transient lodging tax policy, taking back direct payments to the parks district.

Before the decision, Parks & Rec. received 18.75 percent of the lodging tax - roughly $320,000 annually of the total $1.8 million collected.

The money was relied on pays for basic maintenance at local parks, said Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation Director Scott Baker last September. And its potential loss could lead to having to cut services.

The lodging money was used for maintenance of the park system in The Dalles which includes 8 different parks and other recreation facilities - City Park, Firehouse Park, Howe Park, Kiwanis Park, Riverfront Park, Sorosis Park, The Dalles Skate Park, Thompson Park, Mountain Bike Skills Park, Riverfront Trail and The Dalles Aquatic Center.