The winter weather has slowed down progress to quite a few of the town's park improvement plans however Director of Parks & Recreation Lorena Vaccare assured the board, "we are doing as much as we can in between the bad weather, whether its snow, rain or too cold."
Bollinger Park continues to slowly progress toward the finish line with Contractor Steve Hobbs of Hobbs Builders working around weather delays and material shortages. They plan to pave the parking lot, install signs and three-security cameras as soon as possible. The signal tower to power the cameras and enclosing fence are already in place. The cameras will be used to survey the entrance/exit, monitor the parking lot and one will be aimed down the trail head. Areas of disturbance are protected by a silt fence, a sediment barrier made of porous fabric. The temporary fence must stay in place until grass grows in this spring to prevent weather from washing the grass seed away. It can be removed once Carroll County does their final inspection.
The Memorial Park Expansion final site plan has been submitted and once approved the board can make plans to begin construction. Vaccare, said they are also waiting to hear from Community Parks and Playgrounds to see if they are approved for a grant to help with the expansion. Work will begin this spring on a new concrete pad for the bleachers and pavilion renovations, once the weather is warmer. The Memorial Park Splash pad is waiting on the designer, Metro Recreation out of Jefferson County to redesign the plans reflecting the board's requests before sending it back to the board for approval.
All other park improvements, as well as the completion of Bollinger Park, have been put on hold until spring due to the weather. The only project that can be done during the winter is the minor re-grading in Flickinger Park. It will encourage proper storm water runoff so areas in the park are not swampy. Both Flickinger and Roth Avenue Parks will have new concrete pathways poured when the temperatures warm up.
Playground specialists installed wood fiber mulch on all playgrounds to bring them up to code at six inches compacted depth. The only exception being the tot lot at Memorial Park because it is scheduled to be removed and replaced with a better playground and surface in the spring.
Lastly, the current secretary of the Parks and Recreation board, Mackenzie Kilby was nominated to continue as Secretary for another year in the Parks and Recreation department. The vote was unanimous.
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