Fall upgrades to Brier city parks thanks to scouts and grant dollars

With grant money from Snohomish County and efforts from area Boys Scouts, a park and a recreational facility in Brier are getting some much needed upgrades this fall.

About 120 feet of hiking trail in Locust Creek Park was recently reconstructed with gravel, rocks and a wooded border by members of Boy Scout Troop 60. The project was led by troop member Trevor Leen as part of his candidacy for earning Eagle Scout status.

Leen and crews of eight worked four four-hour shifts to complete the project this past weekend at the five-acre park on Vine Road in Brier.

The trail upgrade came after another Eagle Scout candidate, Ethan Moore, had completed a similar project on the same trail; Moore and his assistants finished some steps on a switchback section of the trail just west of Leen’s work the previous weekend.

Snohomish County Capital Projects Partnership Grants totaling $3,800 was secured to pay for materials used for the trail enhancements, said Brier Mayor Bob Colinas.

While fundraising is often part of the challenge for Eagle Scout candidates, Colinas wanted to help expedite the process that would eventually benefit both the scouts and the city. “I did make it a little bit easier for them, and we had some things in the parks that are great projects for the scouts and that I wanted to see get done,” Colinas noted.

Boy Scout work projects at Locust Creek Park may not be finished, as another is in the planning stages; the city is discussing with another Eagle Scout candidate a potential effort to put orienteering markings on various trails in the park.

The $3,800 county grant money is also being used to purchase new railings for Brier’s public horse arena at Brier Park. The installation of the railings will be headed up by another local Eagle Scout candidate Andrew Briand.

This will be only the third set of railings in the horse arena’s 30-plus year history.

While scout projects are prevalent in Brier park improvements right now, they aren’t the only upgrades occurring. The city is having new playground equipment installed by a contractor later this month at Mountain View Park at 225th Street Southwest and 28th Avenue West. The small park recently double in size due with the addition of 0.13 acres obtained by the city with developer impact/mitigation fees. The developer fees are also covering the cost of the playground equipment’s purchase and installation.

–Story and photos by Doug Petrowski

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