Mountlake Terrace “feels like a second home or a backyard” to new Mountlake Terrace Parks Supervisor Celina Williams. Prior to joining the city in May, she had enjoyed spending time at Lake Ballinger and played disc golf at Terrace Creek Park. “I’ve been recreating here and drive past the city all the time, so it’s felt like a very natural fit,” she says.

She grew up in Redmond and has five years of park maintenance expertise from her previous role at the City of Bothell. “I’ve always just had a knack for working with my hands, getting dirty and just being active,” she said. “And so in the park maintenance world, that aligned with me very well, working out in the elements. And it was OK to get dirty at work, which isn’t a common place for some jobs.” 

We recently met with Celina to learn more about her.

Welcome to Mountlake Terrace! Your position is a new one, right?

Yes. Park Services and Property Management Superintendent Ken Courtmanch retired in May after nearly 40 years with the department. Technically, he had three departments under his belt – facilities, custodial and parks – so he was often pulled in a lot of different directions at once.

Simply put, they split Ken’s position into two pieces. Now we have the park supervisor role and then Floyd Garrigues is the supervisor for facilities and custodial. I’m excited to be in this role and to be able to own the parks projects and see them through. That’s the beauty that’s come from splitting the position into two – I can be hyper-focused on parks.

What are some of your major responsibilities?

I supervise the crew of five full-timers and their operations, like ball field maintenance, emptying trash on the daily, mowing, edging, pruning, irrigation fixes, prepping the ball fields for reservations, installing new playgrounds, inspecting playgrounds. Making sure that the parks are safe – that’s the priority.

Plus, I oversee the Recreation and Parks Advisory Commission and the Neighborhood Parks Improvement Subcommittee. 

What makes the MLT parks system different from those in neighboring cities?

There’s a human power in Mountlake Terrace that really makes the park system succeed and be what it is. The city does a great job of writing grants and getting money and support from grants. They’ve had a really strong history. We definitely seek out resources and get a lot of those that we look for, like funding for the Lake Ballinger project.

Another thing that really enticed me about this position is the community engagement. There’s a really strong sense of involvement that naturally comes from the community. People want to get involved. 

What are some examples you’ve seen of this community involvement?

So we’ve got all of these little groups that really want to help out on the regular. Oftentimes cities are begging for volunteers or looking for ways to get people involved, so it’s really great to see that it’s just coming to me. 

When I first started, the Seattle Junior Hockey Association reached out for their U14 team. They wanted to do some volunteer work, so they limbed up a lot of the brush at the dog park. And they want to continue doing something in August!

We have Adopt A Park at Lake Ballinger, and I just met Dale the other day when I was walking down there. He helps keep the weeds at bay at Lake Ballinger.  And we have a volunteer group from Sound Community Bank who goes through Terrace Creek and picks up trash once a month. And then there’s the Ivy League, which is thriving after three years. The work that group does is vital to our park maintenance.

What are some of your immediate goals?

Catching up on a few things that just haven’t been able to be addressed and bringing them to the table as early as I can. For example, I can address small things that may have been pushed to the side, like removing a grill at one of the parks because it’s just rusted through and it’s a safety hazard. And right now we’re going to be repainting the parking lot lines in a lot of the parks. We have some tree work lined up.

Do you have a soft spot for any particular park in town?

I’m really excited for the boardwalk at Lake Ballinger to open. The access that it will give folks to see the different wildlife over the ponds and the future plant growth that’s going to take place there. It’s going to be such a peaceful and tranquil area. There’s something special about being able to walk in a natural space and see turtles and herons and ducklings. It’s going to be a really special park for Mountlake Terrace, and I think a lot of people are going to appreciate it.

The boardwalk under construction at Lake Ballinger can be seen at 2:18 in recent drone footage above shot by Mountlake Terrace resident David Carlos.

You’ve come at a really great time with that project wrapping up.

And there’s a lot of great stuff in the works too, with the Evergreen 3 updates and Veterans Park will be getting a revamp with the light rail stuff that’s going on. Evergreen will be getting a whole new synthetic infield and new fencing. They’ll be replacing the bleachers, and the tennis courts are being resurfaced. And at the end of the month, we’re demoing those restrooms at E3 and installing a new restroom facility later in the fall.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I want to say how amazing the parks crew is here. They’re a hardworking group and they really make the parks system what it is. It’s been nice to walk into the role and know that they’re doing solid work and that I don’t have to micromanage. They know the day-to-day and how to handle surprises. I’ve felt nothing but support from them.

— By Clare McLean