Board discusses maintenance needs

Maintenance issues were the focus Tuesday for Portland Park Board.

Street and parks department co-superintendent Matt Shauver and park board members discussed problems with restrooms at Portland Water Park, the need for mulch at the city’s playgrounds and vandalism at Hudson Family Park.

During his update on Portland’s parks, Shauver mentioned the need for another meeting with HWC Engineering of Indianapolis regarding mold and rust problems in the Portland Water Park restrooms. The issues had been discussed at the park board’s November meeting, with Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman noting that a performance bond for the work on the 2-year-old water park allows the city to request that HWC correct problems despite the fact that the warranty on the work has expired.

“There’s a lot of work that needs done in there now,” said Shauver.

City officials have met once with HWC and expect to do so again in early February.

Geesaman said he does not expect the problems to delay the opening of the facility this year.

Shauver also brought to the park board’s attention the need for new mulch in the playground areas at Haynes, Portland Memorial and Milton Miller parks. He noted that there were several complaints last year about the lack of mulch, which causes the playgrounds to be muddy.

Park board president Rod Ashman, who was re-elected to that office Tuesday with Shawna Runkle as vice president and Chris Compton secretary, asked Shauver to get an estimate on the cost to put new mulch at the facilities. He added that cost may make it impossible to add mulch at all three locations this year.

“It would be nice if we could do that a little bit at a time instead of letting them all go and then doing them all at the same time,” he said.

Addressing another issue brought up at the November meeting, Shauver told board members Giles Laux, Kristi Betts, Ashman and Compton, absent Runkle, that steps are being taken to address vandalism problems at the city’s parks. A Swing of Faith that was damaged is ready to be re-installed at Hudson Family Park, but the city is still talking with AAA State of Play about fixing the playground surface.

Shauver added that bathrooms at city parks were painted as a part of regular upkeep.

The board also heard a presentation from Sara Pyle, representing Jay County Civic Theatre, about the organization’s plans for a “theatre in the park” event this summer.

Pyle explained that civic theatre would like to use Hudson Family Park’s amphitheatre for a performance of “The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf” on Aug. 4. It would also need the facility for rehearsals during the week leading up to the show.

The board advised Pyle that civic theatre would be welcome to use the park and that scheduling could be handled through the mayor’s office. There is a $250 refundable damage deposit for using the amphitheatre.

Geesaman also reported that Portland Water Park will be featured as part of a story about local recreation and parks initiatives in this month’s issue of American City & County magazine.