With $50,000 of gift funding to work with and eight project proposals to choose from, the Madrona Community Council had weighty decisions before them at the final council meeting before the summer break.

After an hour and a half of discussion last night, the council voted to allot $45,800 worth of the Martin and Mimi Kraus Gift to four of the proposals submitted. The largest sums went to the Madrona Woods and Madrona Beach, who both received the full amount applied for.

Driving the council’s decisions was the language of the bequest in the Krauses’ will: that the $50,000 be used to support Madrona parks and recreation. So even though some of the proposals drew the council’s approval and verbal support, they had to be declined because they were not in keeping with the spirit of the gift.

The Friends of Madrona Woods received $25,300 toward ongoing restoration and debt relief for existing loans stemming from the extensive work on the land over the last decade. The Madrona Beach project received $17,500 toward restoring the original community recreation area, with the caveat that a custom sculptured log would include a plaque to honor the Kraus Gift.

Two other projects received conditional funding. The Children’s Gathering Fund & Indoor Toilet at the Shelterhouse proposal, which would help fund community programming and an indoor toilet to the Madrona playfield shelterhouse, received $2,500 toward infrastructure costs. Those funds are contingent upon receiving additional financial support from the parks department and/or the community, and also depend upon a revision of the current contract in which the Madrona Community Council pays the electric bill for shelterhouse use.

The Harrison Ridge Improvement project, for improvement of the greenbelt along 32nd Ave, received $500 contingent on receiving matching funding from another source within one year.

The remaining $4,200 remains in reserve at the discretion of the council for parks and recreation. You can expect to see work going forward on the successful proposals right away – the Madrona Beach project, one of the most visible, expects to begin work within the month.