SCANNING THE REPORTS … Montpelier Recreation Director Sandy Gordon looks over her report that she is presenting to the Park Board. (PHOTO BY TIMOTHY KAYS)
By: Timothy Kays
We’ve already had out first snowfall, and there’s more to come. While most people in the area are planning how to attack the upcoming snow days, few if any are planning their gardens. Montpelier Recreation Director Sandy Gordon is one of those few that is. At the December 3 meeting of the Montpelier Park Board, Gordon reported that she took advantage of the warm November weather to do some tilling in the Kid’s Garden and the Town Hall. She also reported that she is moving forward with the All-America Selections Display Garden for the village.
“I’ve been getting on the Facebook page for All-America Selections,” she said. “I saw they’re doing display gardens. I looked around a little bit, and I didn’t know you could apply to become a display gardener. So I started to read all the things you have to do, and basically just have to have a well maintained garden. You have to plant their All-America Selections, and they’ll inspect it. It was free to apply, so I did and I got an email back that the Board of Directors accepted us, which I think is great.”
“We’re one of just under 200 of them across the country. They put it on their webpage. If we do a good job, they highlight it on their Facebook page. So anything I think of that can help attract positive attention to the town is what I want to do. They didn’t have the full count of seeds because it was late in the season when I applied.”
“So I got a few seeds this year, but in another year, they will send me all the new seeds plus the previous four years America Selections seeds for free, and any plants that I may want that are All-America Selections. The nice thing is they have a lot of vegetables. Not so much this year, but in future years I should have pretty much all the seeds I need except for maybe a few oddball things.”
Gordon also reported that the roof over the Parks and Recreation office has been replaced. Park Facilities Supervisor Nick Ramos reported on the Christmas decoration work, and also the work being done on the ball diamonds. “We were able to get the major league dugouts torn down,” he said, “…the posts set, and the pads poured and finished so we can get them rebuilt later this winter or early next spring.”
“The perimeter fence on the minor league diamond is up and complete, aside from clean up. They’re still working on the backstop fence…behind home plate; that’s not up yet.” Ramos reported that the Pony League field dugout that was knocked down during the summer windstorm has been resurrected, and is awaiting the roof.
Referencing the Christmas decorations, Gordon added, “I do appreciate Nick coming up and helping get the tree. We were there and back, and got that tree up in record time I think.” As part of his report, Village Manager Jason Rockey reported that the Village Council elected to provide a welcome alternative to the annual village employees’ Christmas party that was torpedoed by COVID-19. “Council voted at the last meeting to give the full time and village employees an extra holiday this year,” he said.
“We’re not able to do a Christmas party. 2020 obviously has been a different year to say the least, and all but two weeks at the very beginning, our employees worked the whole time. There hasn’t been any time off, unless there’s been a quarantine or sickness or something like that. There hasn’t been any time off for anybody.”
“All the main shifts were considered essential workers, and in order to recognize Council’s appreciation for the village employees, they decided to make December 31 a holiday for the Village of Montpelier. So, offices will be closed.” The Board briefly discussed the pool and splash pad aspects of the Park Master Plan, subjects which Mr. Rockey addressed.
“If you have ideas,” he said, “…I’d be happy to hear them. I mean, we can get an idea of what we were thinking for a pool house. Obviously, the splash pad is in place now. So what we expect from a pool is different than what we were expecting maybe five or six years ago, whenever the last study was done, because we actually have a splash pad in place.”
“So reducing the footprint for the pool in order to help reduce staff, and then making it a zero entry from one end, the baby pool would go away. I think that’s a nightmare with the health department or something.” Rockey continued, “And we explained that the pool house was coming down. We wanted to put up something much more inexpensive for a pool house than what was proposed last time. We would work the pump house and the pool house into one structure to try to save money that way.”
“There hasn’t been any decisions made as far as to what it might look like. We talked about the possibility of expanding the splash pad; more splash pad – smaller pool, that kind of thing. There won’t be any final decisions made on any of that; we’ve got to have some kind of sketch to start with.”
Prior to going into executive session, the Board approved the 2021 monthly meeting schedule. The Board will convene on the first Wednesday of each month, with the exception of June. That meeting will be held on June 3.
Tim can be reached at tim@thevillagereporter.com