Board approves park improvement

Weiler-Wilson Park will be getting a new concrete pad near the concession stand, but weather may determine when it will be completed.

Portland Park Board on Tuesday approved funds for new concrete at the concession stand as well as walkways near the baseball and softball diamonds. The board also approved two donations to local organizations and heard an update on the work in the bathrooms at the Portland Water Park.

Brian Ison, president of Portland Junior League, presented some information about the upcoming Portland Junior League season and highlighted a few items the league’s board would like to address in the future. This season, the league will have 288 children from ages 5 to 15 on a total of 27 baseball and softball teams. Ison estimated the league will play about 324 games over the course of the season, starting May 1 and ending sometime in early July.

Ison mentioned to park board that a few of the biggest issues to be resolved in the future at Weiler-Wilson Park are replacing the fields’ fences, fixing drainage issues and improving accessibility.

At the board’s March meeting, street and parks superintendent Ryan Myers presented a series of potential improvements for the city’s parks, utilizing leftover funds from the construction of the water park. One of the proposed projects was adding a new concrete pad at Weiler-Wislon Park in front of the concession stands and paths to improve accessibility.

Park board members Rod Ashman, Chris Compton, Shauna Runkle and Giles Laux, absent Kristi Betts, approved funds for the concrete improvements, estimated to cost around $5,000. The appropriation allows Myers to proceed with laying the concrete using city employees. Myers said he hopes to try to get the work done before the baseball season, but if weather doesn’t cooperate it could have to wait until the fall. The board also voted to give $420.56 to Portland Junior League, to help cover expenses of the replacement of aging wood and repainting in dugouts at Weiler-Wilson Park.

The board also approved a sponsorship for Stars in the Park. John Boggs and Dean Sanders, from Jay County Chamber of Commerce, requested the board sponsor Stars in the Park. The board voted to pay $650 from the park donation fund.

Myers also highlighted the ongoing work to rectify water pooling problems in the men’s and women’s restrooms at Portland Water Park. The city still holds $30,000 in retainage from contractor RL Turner, because of city officials’ disapproval of the work done in the bathrooms during construction. RL Turner plans to add epoxy to the edges of the flooring, to create a better flow of water to the drains in the floor. Myers said he expects the work will be done well before the water park opens on Memorial Day weekend.

In other business, the board:

•Approved the purchase of a Toro lawnmower from Hull Brothers, the lowest of four bids, at a cost of $6,000 with the trade in of one of the city’s current lawnmowers.

•Requested that Myers and water park manager Missy Bader bring suggestions for water park fees to the next meeting.

•Heard from Myers that the bathrooms in the city’s parks will be open for use by the end of the week.