History is in the making as the Buckley City Council discussed the intricacies of its proposed first trailhead.

The Council, during their study session on Tuesday, July 18, talked about a Memorandum of Understanding to relocate the proposed Dr. Tait Pavilion Plaza — originally meant to be built near the Foothills Historical Museum — to Jefferson Street between the skate park and the veteran’s monument.

The council wants to possibly move the pavilion because they recently agreed to build a 25-stall parking lot in the same area.

The trailhead project is being spearheaded by the Foothills Rails to Trails Coalition. The Coalition’s vision includes the parking lot, restrooms, and a pavilion plaza, according to Executive Director Shayla Miles. The Coalition has agreed to fully fund the construction of the pavilion plaza, which is an homage to Dr. Tait; the city would fund the parking lot and the restrooms.

Dr. Tait was the town doctor for many years and one of the pioneers in the idea of creating a trail system that connects many communities. He was also one of the founding members of the Foothills Rails to Trails Coalition. The Coalition plans to raise $325,000 for the plaza pavilion construction.

Miles said the Coalition recently conducted a foothills trailhead study to asses community support for this project. On June 8, The Coalition’s board received the results of this study and voted to proceed with funding this project. They conducted the study by interviewing or surveying community members, business government leaders, coalition members, and many different foundations, according to Miles.

Miles said they had 72 respondents, and over 80% of respondents responded positively to the project.

“The key findings from this study that really are informing our work going forward for that capital campaign are to highlight this pavilion plaza as a larger public-private partnership between the coalition and the city of Buckley to build a new trailhead for the foothill trails,” Miles said. “So, looking at it, not just as the Doc Tait pavilion plaza, but really pulling in the elements of the restrooms that are already there and then the parking lot project, to this new wonderful trailhead.”

City Administrator Courtney Brunell suggested that a stage could be incorporated into the design at the pavilion plaza. Buckley Director of Parks and Recreation, Erin Snodgrass, added that if they included a stage at the pavilion plaza, that would remove the $4,000 that the City of Buckley spends every year to rent out the stage for Tunes by the Trail.

Snodgrass said, long term, building a stage there saves Buckley money.

Although Buckley is in charge of maintenance once the pavilion plaza is constructed, she said the maintenance won’t be much. She said at most, it is regularly mowing the grass and checking for graffiti.

Currently, in the design plans, people facing the pavilion plaza at the trailhead would see state Route 410 behind the performers, but Brunell, alongside a few City Council members, wanted to know if the direction of the pavilion plaza could be slightly shifted to accommodate a stage to give viewers a better view of Mount Rainier. Miles said it is definitely possible, but a stage at the trailhead is not their main focus.

“For us, The Coalition, our mission isn’t to provide musical opportunities for Buckley. Our mission is trail-focused,” Miles said. “So from our perspective, having it right across the way from the parking lot makes sense for the purposes of trailhead use,” Miles said from the study they conducted, they concluded their main focuses were wayfinding, creating a sense of belonging, a sense of safety, maps for important information about weather, trail closes or other hazards.

Although Miles said their main focus is the functionality of the trailhead as an access point to the Foothills Trail, she said the Coalition is working with a new designer, so the Coalition is very open to involving the city with the positioning of the pavilion plaza.

Council member Milt Tremblin — who was sworn in at the July 25 Council meeting but was not an official member during the last study session — voiced his concerns with the design process. Tremblin said he did not think the city was involved sufficiently in the design process, and he thinks the city should be included earlier in the review process.

Miles said again that the Coalition is open to working with the city to tweak the design of the pavilion plaza, but at the core of this project, the funders are focused on how this trailhead will work well with the trail.

The Council and the Coalition did not formally plan additional stage construction at this study session, but Brunell added part of the proposed MOU states, “Prior to any construction, FRTC shall acquire approval from the Buckley City Council of the final design.”

Council Member Kenny Asanto inquired if there are grants the city could pursue to build additional facilities at the trailhead.

Brunell said there are grants available if there is a certain type of facility they would want to build, and she emphasized this trailhead and pavilion are a gift from the Coalition.