Electrical upgrades OK’d for Runkle-Miller

A local baseball field will be getting upgrades to its electrical service.

Portland Park Board awarded a $20,200 contract Tuesday to Coppersmith Electric for upgrades at Portland Memorial Park’s Runkle-Miller Field.

The board also discussed details regarding the 2025 Portland Water Park season.

Street and parks department superintendent Matt Shauver referred to the currently electrical service as “dinosaur-like,” noting concerns about breaker boxers. Boxes are on various poles around the field and can be easily accessed. (He said all of the boxes at the fields in Portland Memorial Park are similar, saying the Runkle-Miller work is a first step.)

Shauver said plans are to move the boxes on poles inside the field’s fence to at least 8 feet high so as to remove an injury hazard. The boxes on the exterior of the field would be moved at least 18 inches off the ground.

The board and parks staff discussed timing and funding for the project and whether it could be completed this year or wait until 2026.

Park board president Brian Ison and member John McFarland advocated for getting to the work as soon as possible because it is a safety and liability issue.

Board members Michael Brewster, Jennifer Weitzel, Ison and McFarland, absent Shauna Runkle, awarded the job to Coppersmith, which was one of three companies that provided quotes. Shauver will work with the firm to schedule the upgrades around an already-planned roofing project and the Portland Rockets season.

Ison also presented the board with proposed prices for tickets, passes and rentals for the 2025 Portland Water Park season. He suggested keeping daily admission at $5 before 5 p.m. and $3 after 5 p.m., as well as no changes to the cost of a 10-day pass and annual passes for one, two and three individuals in the same family. He proposed cutting the cost of passes for four and five people by $25 each to $200 and $250, respectively, and reducing the cost of a pass for six or more individuals in the same family by $50 to $275.

He suggested increasing pool rental rates to $150 per hour from the previous $125, noting that rentals sold out last year.

Other admission fees, a discount for swim club members and pay for lifeguards and other workers would remain the same.

Board members had a brief discussion about prices, with Brewster saying he would like to consider a $1 increase to daily admission. 

He said that rate has not gone up since the facility opened almost a decade ago.

McFarland said he’d like to review admission numbers and other data before making a decision about the coming year.

Ison asked Shauver to provide historical daily admission and pool pass numbers and advised park board members to request any other information they would like to review.

Ison also said he has reached out to several candidates for pool manager and assistant manager and plans on setting up interviews soon.

In other business:

•Parks manager Ronnie Reynolds provided an update, noting that several structures at Milton Miller Park have been torn down as part of ongoing renovations, new mowers have been delivered, brush has been cleaned up along nature trails and near Runkle-Miller Field, hand dryers have been installed at Weiler-Wilson and Haynes parks. He also said new playground equipment for Haynes Park is expected to be delivered and installed next month.

•Reviewed a report from The Portland Foundation for the park’s disc golf endowment. It had a balance of $3,089.76 and had an annual distribution available of $111.81. The board agreed to keep those dollars in the endowment fund.

•Approved the purchase of new security cameras for Milton Miller Park from NuWave Technology of Coldwater, Ohio, for $9,423.