PEMBERVILLE – The Wood County Park District is making headway on its list of capital projects for 2023.
“We still have a lot of work that’s ongoing and soon to be completed,” Director Chris Smalley said at the Oct. 10 meeting, which was held at William Henry Harrison Park.
He provided a list of completed projects at each park, which included:
Buttonwood Recreation Area: Parking lot stoning repairs for $1,500.
Cedar Creeks Preserve: Playground equipment repairs, $2,000.
Park headquarters: Parking lot repaving, $35,000.
W.W. Knight Preserve: The furnace has been replaced for $15,000. The boardwalk has been replaced and the patio ramp relocated with previously purchased material.
Otsego Park: The cement supports have been repaired, $60,000; the basement door has been replaced, $5,000; new appliances have been installed in the kitchen, $10,000; and a new fireplace switch has been installed, $3,600.
Bradner Preserve: Tar and chipping of the Timmons entrance, $19,000, and the Caldwell entrance, $14,400, have been completed; and a new Caldwell Road entrance sign has been installed for $2,000.
Reuthinger Memorial Preserve: The building expansion is complete at a cost of $245,000, and the pond has been graded for $2,000.
Sawyer Quarry Nature Preserve: Septic tank repairs for $2,000.
Miscellaneous trail stoning at Phillips Pond cost $500, the Slippery Elm Trail has been cleared for $10,000, and a staircase has been installed at Carter Historic Farm for $3,000.
“There’s still plenty left to do,” Smalley said.
He said the district was about three-quarters of the way through the budget and despite unexpected expenditures, they were still under budget.
The board also approved a new pay grade and title for two positions.
The Volunteer Services/Communications Specialist will go up one pay grade to $49,004.80-$68,598.40 with a title change to Community and Communications Specialist.
The Historic Farm Specialist also went up one pay grade to $57,886.40-$81,0836.80 with a title change to Historic Farm Coordinator.
In other business:
• Commissioner Rebecca Ferguson asked why the parks close when the county closes due to a snow emergency.
“From someone who had children who used the park on days where the county closed … I wanted my kids out sliding and having fun in a park,” she said.
If a Level 3 snow emergency is lifted early in the day, she said she didn’t understand why the parks don’t open.
• Smalley distributed proposed changes to the rental agreements and said they would be acted on at the next meeting.
• Friends of the Parks President Candace Weis reported the start of a History of Wood County Parks Committee, which is going through decades of scrapbooks looking for history. Library databases will also be searched and a list of people who are still alive will be interviewed.
