Parks donate

Portland Park Board donated some unused equipment to another Jay County community.

It also discussed steps to protect existing equipment and facilities.

The board during its meeting Tuesday agreed to donate skate and bicycle park equipment that has sat unused for years to the Town of Pennville and considered adding security cameras at three of its facilities.

Nathan McClain presented the request for the skate and bicycle park equipment to the board, saying he had previously discussed the donation with former Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman and then-street and parks department superintendent Ryan Myers. He said the process stalled and then the coronavirus pandemic hit, but with things clearing up he wanted to revisit the issue.

The skate and bicycle park equipment was purchased in 2003. It was set up on former tennis courts at the east end of Weiler-Wilson Park near Portland Pool, but was removed from that area in 2015 as construction of Portland Water Park began. It was relocated to Milton Miller Park and subsequently taken down. It is now being stored outdoors on city property.

McClain requested the donation, saying Pennville has a space prepared for the equipment and that he’d like to put it to use.

“I would just like to see some kids playing on it rather than it just sitting there,” he said. “I just hate to see it go to waste.”

After discussing whether there were any plans for the equipment in Portland’s parks, board members Shauna Runkle, Brian Ison, Chris Compton and Glen Bryant, absent Giles Laux, agreed to make the donation.

While there haven’t been any new vandalism issues in the last month or so, Matt Shauver of Portland’s parks department presented plans for additional cameras at Portland Water Park, including a new DVR to store the footage, as well as six new cameras in the area of the amphitheatre at Hudson Family Park.

The current DVR at the water park could then be moved to Haynes Park with additional cameras at that facility.

An estimate from NuWave, a Coldwater, Ohio, company that has previously installed cameras in the city’s parks, came in at just over $7,000.

Park board members were supportive of the idea but asked Shauver to get a second quote for comparison and tabled the issue to consider how to pay for the equipment.

The board also heard a request from Steve Craig for construction of pickleball courts in a city park. He presented a petition with 45 signatures.

Park board members were supportive of the idea, but also noted the challenges of funding such a project. They agreed to consider the courts as they continue to work on their 2022-2026 five-year master plan.

Shauver also said he would work with Craig to see if there is space currently available that would be feasible for temporary courts using portable nets.

Ison also noted that the board is continuing to make progress on its five-year master plan and that a public survey about the parks should be available soon.

In other business, the board:

•Heard an update from manager Missy Bader about Portland Water Park, which did not open as planned for Memorial Day weekend because of cold weather. She said the goal is to have the facility open this weekend. “We’ll just have to see what the weather brings,” she said.

•Learned from Shauver that new roofs on a total of five shelter houses at Haynes, Milton Miller and Portland Memorial parks have been completed. Goodhew Roofing Services of Ridgeville, which handled the work, also donated a new roof on the restroom at Milton Miller Park. Shauver, who said he had hoped to be able to fit the restroom roof in the budget a few years down the road, and the board thanked owner John Goodhew for the donation.