GRAND RAPIDS — The Wood County Park District got a tiny bit bigger at Monday’s board of commissioners’
meeting.
The board, meeting at Otsego Park, approved spending $15,000 to acquire a garage on the corner of Rudolph
and Mermill roads. It is on the southwest corner, adjacent to land that the park district already owns
and abuts the Slippery Elm Trail.
The building is owned by the Paul Brim family, said Park District Director Neil Munger. He said a phase
one environment assessment was done on the garage. “It came back very clean,” he said.
The only concern is removing asbestos from the building, which is estimated as a $4,100 job.
Board members said they thought the cost was reasonable, but they also said that they want the building
empty. Munger said that’s not a problem and the Brim family plans on holding two auctions to clear it.

The building consists of a 4,074-square-foot older portion and a 1,806-square-foot newer facility, Munger
said. The district will use the building for storage and a workshop area.
“This would give us two things. ‘A,’ a place to store a lot of our equipment … and it will also give us
a work area in the southern part (of the county),” he said.
The total park property size in this area is about 3 acres.
After the meeting, Munger said there are no immediate plans to develop the park. Its future use would be
community space with restrooms and a playground, but it’s not in the capital plans which go through
2012, he said.
Also Monday, the board approved moving the deadline to apply for hunting at Baldwin Woods Preserve near
Weston and the Cricket Frog Cove area off the Slippery Elm Trail from to Sept. 15.
Ranger Doug Carr said the program allows 200 people to register for hunting, or four spots per day at
each park.
There were 145 surveys returned this year, revealing these game statistics: At Baldwin, hunters got 23
pheasants, five rabbits, 17 squirrels, one dove and five deer. At Cricket Frog Cove, there were 14
pheasants, nine rabbits, 37 squirrels and four deer harvested.
After the meeting, Carr said the hunting program is great for parents who want to teach their children
about hunting and are looking for a safe avenue. The parks are closed when hunting is allowed.
“For the county, it’s a very nice program overall,” he said. “There are some hoops to jump through, but
it’s a very unique program.”
It’s also reasonably priced, at $5, Carr said.
Hunting has been allowed at Baldwin for 13 years and Cricket Frog Cove for three. It starts Sept. 1
through Oct. 30, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and continues November through January, everyday
except Sunday.
Baldwin Woods Preserve is 126 acres on Range Line and Euler roads. Cricket Frog Cove is 160 ares between
Cygnet and Freyman roads.
The makeup of Cricket Frog Cove could change in the future, Carr said. If a clay shooting course and
trails are added, hunting would not be allowed. Baldwin is likely to stay undeveloped, he added.
Also at the meeting, the board:
• Approved the 2010 statutory budget that has a total proposed operating budget of $2.5 million. That
compares to $2.4 million this year.
• Approved a resolution to participate in receiving roadway funds from the Ohio Department of
Transportation for the new biennium, 2010-11. The $56,565 from ODOT will be spend on work at Cedar
Creeks Preserve near Walbridge and paving projects at William Henry Harrison Park in Pemberville and at
the park district headquarters on Mercer Road.
• Heard that bids for paving at Cedar Creeks Preserve will be opened on July 22.