ARCHITECTURAL POWER POINT … At the Wednesday evening, March 3, 2021 meeting of the Montpelier Parks and Rec Board, Mr. Chris Kannel shared some changes to the architecture plans for the new park downtown. Kannel is seen here explaining one of the changes, as he used his laptop to put the blueprints up on a large screen where all could see. (PHOTO BY REBECCA MILLER, STAFF)
By: Rebecca Miller
Montpelier Architect Chris Kannel presented a few changes, at the Montpelier Parks and Recreation Board meeting, to the drawings of the new park to be made in downtown Montpelier.
Two principle changes have happened in the architecture, the first being “the stage area has been simplified to reduce the amount of paving and walls.”
The relocation of the Restroom Building to the southwest property, is the second, to keep from having it placed directly near a business “whose new owner has some awesome future plans” that would be hampered by having a restroom right in front of it.
The Shade Structure on the corner is unchanged and Nick Ramos, Park Supervisor, said that there would be no problem building the drinking fountain. Kannel shared cost estimates saying the total came to around $85,000 without the stage.
If they do not build the stage, which would cost about $20,000 itself, they would not need a building permit. If someone wants to “donate the money to build the stage, and get a plaque with their name on it, that would be great,” but it does not seem feasible for the budget right now.
He recommended starting with planters, benches, the Shade Area and other regular park items. It will cost about $4800 for the benches so they are already talking about getting those.
People are welcome to donate money for any specific items in the park and if interested should contact Sandy Gordon, Parks and Rec Director.
They discussed that they would prefer to pay for the park themselves rather than apply for grant money. There was also some discussion about having colored concrete areas, as the cost of the blue pigment is very high right now.
Kannel is hoping they will be able to do it as he feels it makes the park so much prettier with colors. A motion was made and approved to go forward with what was listed: the benches, planters, shade area and other regular park items.
Kannel ended his presentation by asking the Board to consider what they would want to name the park. He explained that it is not absolutely necessary until right before it is dedicated, but it would be nice to go ahead and name it soon so they can all speak about it with the name.
Two that he put forward are “Junction Park” or “Village Green.” He asked them to come up with some ideas and then the board can vote on it.
Another visitor to the meeting was Scott Gordon, the Pony League Commissioner, who asked the Board if they can use the fields for practice even as early as Spring Break.
He has given the Spring game schedule to Nick and Sandy and there will be seventeen games on the schedule with ten of those at home.
The summer season will start on the week of May 17 and be done by July 1. He asked what the protocol is for using the fields. The Board agreed that they would like him to follow whatever COVID protocol the high school is using so there is some consistency.
He shared that they have enough money this year that they have decided not to charge the players. A Motion was made and approved to have the Umpire fees be $1500 for Softball and Baseball, and $500 for Pony League.
Ramos gave a Park and Pool Update, informing the Board of a number of items. He has exercised the valves, emptied the pit and run the slide pump. They have a total of ten Lifeguard applications. Two of them are new and will need to get their certification.
Jayme Belasko will be back to manage the pool for the summer. He is going to take some time to consider what extracurricular activities to offer this year to accommodate the number of lifeguards. They do plan to do Water Aerobics.
He has ordered four new Rescue Tubes and three new Lifeguard chairs and is currently discussing with Jayme about what signage is needed before he gets that ready.
Don Brown has offered to help Ramos figure out what is needed in order to get the pool started. He recommended that they order chemicals for the pool in April and Ramos plans to coordinate with Brown’s supervisor, Denny Bishop, to set up a time for the two of them to meet.
Concerning the Parks, Ramos said that he raised and lowered the flags twice in the past month, one for Police officers’ lives lost in the line of duty and second for the 500,000 Americans that have. Lost their lives due to COVID-19.
Mostly during the past month, he cleared snow, salted and maintained alleys uptown and sidewalks in the park. He took the lights off the trees downtown so that Sandy can prune them when needed.
He has also worked on getting things around for Spring such as the grass seed, material for the Diamonds, paint to match up for the dugouts and Triple-16 Fertilizer to put on the bare spots.
He has accepted four applications for park workers for the summer and is planning to hire two. Dennis Keesbury is coming back this season to help him get things started until the High School age workers can start.
The current, 2017, 72” John Deere mower is cleaned and ready to be traded in for the new, 2021, 72” John Deere 950 Z Trac mower. He has spoken with Brad Short at KFG and he said the new mower will be ready for delivery this month.
Ramos met with Shawn Owen for the Baseball Commission about the major league dugouts. Greg Shoup at Peltc’s is ready to deliver the materials to build the dugouts whenever the weather breaks.
After the dugouts are erected, in order to cut the cost of building materials, Shoup will precisely measure them for the steel sheeted outer shell.
Jeff Dick is putting together a Spring Age 14 and Up Girls Softball League. He asked about the using the field for those games. He has six games scheduled starting the first week of April, weather permitting.
Joe Brigle wants to use a field for a few night games for the girls JV and Varsity softball teams. Ramos met with Nikki Uribes about whether they could use the Park Board’s line chalk and Ramos’s time to prepare the field for those games and she stated it would be a problem.
The possible purchase of a Wibit Rodeo Splash Stand Alone play inflatable was discussed. Village Manager Jason Rockey suggested seeing if the 13’ dome would even fit in their pool before they pursue this further.
If it does, they plan to ask the Friends of the Parks for funding, not to exceed the amount determined after sales tax. Board member Jen Schlosser wondered if it would just be one more thing for the lifeguards to have to watch for safety and Board member Darold Moore said that he thought it would make lifeguard duty less monotonous if they had something else to watch.
The Board passed a motion to approve Requesting Funds from Friends of the Park if it is a feasible purchase for their size pool.
There was some discussion about the Spider Cracks on the slide, which is from 1997, that need to be repaired before they get worse. Ramos said they checked with a place called Slide Renew out of Westerville Ohio, and it would cost the park board $3000 just to have them come to look at it.
Ramos said the man he spoke with explained how to fix the spider cracks themselves. Their company sells the materials needed and they can use the parks’ sand paper.
Ramos said he will try to do it before they open so it doesn’t get worse. The date set for the pool to open is June 7, as school lets out on May 27.
The Director, Sandy Gordon, reported that she has some applications for the summer crew and only one person with experience is coming back. All the rest are “newbies” and half of them are 15 years old,so can only work till 9 p.m.
She stated that there are a couple of problems concerning scheduling because three of them have vacations and three are in Track and won’t be available till may, so she is working on that.
She has decided not to have the Snow Cone Machine this year as the majority of the staff are not old enough to run it.
She is hoping some of them will return next year with the experience of this year, and she can train them to use it then. The concession stand is also a concern as she has only two old enough to run it so she would have to be there when they are not, or it will be closed.
She is assuming she will spend a lot of time in the Concession stand this summer. At least one of the new hires is really good at soccer so she is hoping they can do a Soccer Camp.
Summer Camps might not be available this summer either as with no returning employees it would be very difficult to pull off. She assured the Board that she will figure it all out, “but it is looking a little harder.” She is going to check with Brian Fritsch to see if they could do a Safety Night and do it all at once.
Gordon said she is still planning to do the Lunch Program which takes up quite a bit of time. Board President Brian Saneholts said that it might be different but that whatever is offered is better than 2020.
He liked the idea of a Soccer Camp and using the specific skills of those who have applied. “With so much inexperienced staff, I will need to be there a lot,” Gordon said.
In other park related news, she has been growing seeds all winter, the Program Guide is going well and she is moving ahead with everything possible. A lot of the Library events will be at the Main St. Park.
Gordon also asked if it would be ok to request Memorial funds from the Friends of the Park to purchase a “cute little butterfly bench to add a little more whimsy to the kids garden.” The Board agreed and she said she plans to paint it yellow to brighten up the garden.
The last item which Gordon addressed was Bean Days. There was a Bean Days Committee meeting on March 2, 2021 and “basically they are just trying to get their feet back with Downtown Concentration, protocols, maybe Corn Hole Tournament, Bean Sprout Alley on Friday night, movie the week after Bean Days and maybe one outside during Bean Days.
Downtown park should be grass by then and they want to use it for a band. Once they get info from the governor, it won’t be all the stuff of the past, but it will be something. Nothing will be at the Fairgrounds. There will be a parade if they are allowed. Someone is working on a timed Bike Race, also.”
In his report to the Board, Jason Rockey said that at the last council meeting they talked about the low ground off of Mill St. and acquiring some acreage as a conservation area.
They have “pushed pause on that project.” There are two years to come up with the funds. Deadline for app was around March 4.
The village did not get the appraisal which was necessary and the title work was not done, so it is put off for a while to have the time to do it correctly.
They want to get as much good info out as they can. “There is a lot of misinformation,” Rockey said, “and they did not have time to get the facts out because of the short deadline.”
“They are going to circle back by next November and the township trustees who were against it are saying they would like to work together. There could be an outdoor learning lab for the school to have an outdoor science lab. “
“It was awesome to see Jr. High kids doing biology in the woods. We still love the project but can’t force it through. It is better to get it all gathered and make a stronger application in November of 2021. Lot of ifs so they hope to get those straightened out.”
The Board approved the use of the Municipal Park for the “Out of the Darkness Walk” which has bee requested for Sunday, September 26, 2021. This will be the third year this Suicide Awareness Walk will be done in Montpelier.
It is led by Sharon Yoder representing the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Sandy Gordon requested that from now on, when they do the walk, they need to put everything back where it was.
“If they move anything they need to put it back where they found it,” she said. “Also the concession stand should be put where it can’t destroy the yard.” Ramos added there should be no parking on the grass as well.
The Board also approved the February meeting minutes and the Financial Statement. Gordon said the finances are “still kind of upside down as some things that have to be paid at the beginning of the year mess up the budget, but it will catch up.”
The meeting adjourned at 8:30, having lasted an hour and a half.
Rebecca can be reached at publisher@villagereporter.com