NEW BOARD PRESIDENT … Angela Hillard was recently elected as the Montpelier Parks and Recreation Board President. Hillard was elected at the January 4 meeting. (PHOTO BY DANIEL COOLEY, STAFF)
By: Daniel Cooley
Board members at the Montpelier Parks and Recreation Board’s February 1 meeting were Brent Saneholtz, Matt Reid, and Angela Hillard.
Also in attendance were Village Manager Jason Rockey, Nick Ramos and Recreation Director Sandy Gordon.
The board began the meeting by approving of the minutes from the previous January 4 meeting. At that meeting, along with board members Saneholtz, Reid and Hilliard, board members Kyle Long and new member Bethany Coutz elected Hillard as president of the board and Reid as vice president.
Gordon then gave the financial statement for January 2023, The 2023 budget is $726,218. The month to date amount, through January 31, 2023, was $19,651.32. The board then approved the financial statements.
Gordon, Rockey and Ramos, along with Justin Houk and Nate Thompson, recently took a trip to the Iron Horse River Trail.
There, they met with Josh Imber from Soil and Water and Christina Kuchle from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
Gordon, Rockey and Ramos discussed that meeting and the Iron Horse River Trail as a whole, with the board members.
There is construction work currently on the trail and there are areas of wetlands that won’t be touched. Kuchle said that wetland pools will help with potential flooding problems.
“If we decide to go with a grant, we have to have an idea what we want to do with the trail, by March,” Gordon said.
Currently, the board is interested in going with putting in a disc golf course, exercise equipment, a story book walk, a mountain bike course and possibly, an observation tower.
Once the current construction with the trail site is completed, the board plans to get working on the disc golf course.
The story book walk will take place on the boardwalk. Other areas will also take place after the completion of construction, with the disc golf course as the first project to be worked on.
Hillard will investigate local funding for the story book walk. As Gordon explained, a $10,000 grant would take answering 85 pages of work. Thus, the park board would like to go with an easier route.
“All of these projects could take awhile, maybe as much as 20 years to get them done, but we intend to do them,” Gordon said.
Rockey then gave the village manager’s report, which focused on Peterman’s proposed pool drawings. In the proposed drawing, the concessions will all be together.
The proposed pool will be built to the northeast of the current pool. Included in the pool building, will be the pump room, women’s and men’s restrooms, an office, a ticket window, a lifeguard break area, an employee restroom, a family restroom, a baby changing station, lockers, a janitor room, and a changing area.
Ramos then gave the park and pool update. With the pool, the pit was emptied and there are plans to replace the diving board this spring.
Ramos stated that the current board’s epoxy is breaking up and cracking apart.
Ramos is also looking for prices to add new P.P.E. for pool chlorination and filter rooms. Ramos said that new safety boards for the deck are needed.
In park reports, Christmas lights and displays were taken down and put away. There is a new park vehicle and Tri-State Customs sprayed the bedliner and added running boards to the vehicle.
The Shady Lane signs were taken down from the Shady Lane alley. Also, new lights and cages were ordered for Storrer Park.
Ramos talked with Austin Poynter about putting in a camera system for Municipal Park and Ramos will be doing a walk through to pinpoint the park needs.
A quote was received from Tate Fackler for a sidewalk to the Minor League diamond. The sidewalk, eight feet wide and 220 feet long, will start from the main parking lot.
A concrete pad will stretch from one dugout to the other and will be nine feet wide. Estimated cost for the project is between $29,000 and $32,000.
Ramos met with Brad Short about a 60-inch mower trade-in allowance. The park system will be getting a new J.D. 950z mower in either late February or at the beginning of March.
Salt was laid in alleys and snow was cleared from alleys and bus stops. Also, snow was cleared from the park sidewalks.
Ramos trimmed broken branches and cleaned the chainsaws, picked up trash in the parks and received new trash receptacles, which will need to be assembled.
Gordon then gave the recreation update. To start, the park webpage and Facebook page have been updated.
Christmas decorations have been taken down and stored in the basement of the recreation office.
Electricians took down wreaths from downtown and decorations were taken off the downtown Christmas tree and moved to Kannel’s Storage.
The 2023 garden order has been completed and supplies have been ordered. Potting soil, mulch and garden supplies have been ordered.
Gordon has continued working on the 2023 summer program, with an Age of Steam theme.
Also planned is a Sherlock Holmes Exhibition Event, with interactive activities for kids.
This includes solving puzzles and crimes, to win a prize. Also, a tye dye shirt design has been developed.
Gordon stated that she had a phone conversation with Crystal Genter, the nutrition manager for the Northwest Ohio Community Action Commission.
Gordon confirmed that Genter’s group allows daycares at their summer lunch sites.
Gordon ordered a new computer, which was budgeted and should be received by next week.
Gordon sent out postcards to last year’s employees, letting them know how to apply for this year, with March 1 as the submission date. Information was also posted on Facebook.
Three gardening workshops for Saturday, February 18 have been developed and completed. The themes are flower beds and tropical plants, kitchen gardening, plus cottage gardening and language of flowers.
Three bands have been booked for Bean Days. The bands have been paid for by Bean Days and Friends of Montpelier Parks. Tasha Thompson has booked a fourth band for Bean Days.
Gordon compiled and sent letters to Holiday City and West Unity village councils, the Holiday City-Jefferson Township Visitors Bureau, NORTA and the Williams County Park Board.
The letters are requesting funding for the engineering for the paving of the Wabash Cannonball Trail.
Also, Gordon attended the park board meeting, safety meeting and supervisors’ meetings. In addition, Gordon typed minutes and reports for the Park Board meeting.
Finally, Gordon stated that the park board will need to talk about umpire fees at the next meeting. on March 1.
In additional business, Hillard will discuss Halloween and Christmas decorations at the March 1 meeting.
The board then voted to adjourn the meeting.
Daniel can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
