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Big parks system, big obligations

Green space is a plus for any city, but maintaining it doesn’t come cheap

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By Samantha Sommer, Staff Writer Updated 11:58 AM Sunday, August 23, 2009

A park system stretching nearly half the length of a city and through downtown is an amenity most governments envy.

But Snyder Park’s pot holes, deteriorating buildings, stagnant ponds and lagoons and other problems mean it isn’t the asset it could be.

“It’s just a fantastic resource that we have not been using very well ... It looks worn. We need to take every opportunity we can to put together a variety of things that will change that,” Mayor Warren Copeland said.

Snyder Park’s condition is a symptom of a system sorely in need of improvements but lacking money.

Both National Trail Parks and Recreation and the Clark County Park districts face an uncertain financial future and rely on funding from government bodies with their own budget woes.

National Trail has a budget of about $5 million, and about 30 full-time and 125 seasonal workers, such as lifeguards, scorekeepers and park maintenance crews. Both the full-time and seasonal staff have been cut by about a quarter in the past decade.

The district has about 25 facilities including playgrounds, golf courses, baseball fields, Snyder Park and Splash Zone Family Aquatic Center.

Systemwide, the big costs that are hard to finance are cutting grass, trimming trees and similar work, Copeland said.

To properly maintain the facilities such as Snyder Park, its budget really should be about $7 million, which is what it would have been had a levy passed, said Doug Nist, who was CEO until he stepped down recently.

“We’re truly living on borrowed money,” he said.

Cooperation

Parks are more than just green space, City Commissioner Karen Duncan said.

Companies and workers want to be where the amenities are attractive, she said.

“They add to the quality of life and they make economic development much easier to sell in our area,” she said.

National Trail was formed 10 years ago, combining the city and county programs. A maintenance and service agreement was set up with the Clark County Park District, which never dissolved because it is difficult under state law.

A $17 million capital campaign that included government and private dollars spurred the joint district’s formation and led to a new baseball stadium, aquatics center and more.

“There was a golden opportunity,” Copeland said.

For the Clark County Park District, it presented a way to secure stable funding, in addition to the capital projects that included reconstructing the Hertzler House barn and building new bike trails, said Walter Szczesny, CCPD board president.

The joint district provided more and bigger equipment for the Clark County Park District, CCPD Executive Director Jim Campbell said. It also addressed confusion from the public over who ran what and where to call for information.

“We had a chance to have a one-stop shopping scenario,” Campbell said.

The cooperation also eliminated duplication of efforts, County Commissioner and parks liaison John Detrick said.

The plan from the start was that after a few years of proving itself, the joint district would seek a countywide levy.

Voters nixed the levy four times — three times countywide and once in the city only.

Last year the NTPRD board decided to end the maintenance agreement with the Clark County Park District, effective Jan. 1.

The Clark County Park District provided about $85,000 a year to NTPRD from local government funds, but its properties cost about $299,000 a year to maintain and operate.

Two employees who had come from the Clark County Park District — then Open Space Manager Campbell and Cultural Activities Specialist Cyndy Jividen — were laid off.

“It was really driven by economics,” NTPRD Board President Darrell Kitchen said.

Funding

In previous years, the county provided about $282,000 to NTPRD. It planned to cut that to about $167,000 due to tight budgets, Detrick said.

After the end of the maintenance agreement, county commissioners split their funding between the two districts, giving each $83,500.

That money was critical to the Clark County Park District, Szczesny said. Without that, it would have had even less money than 10 years ago because it no longer has funding from grants and a trust.

To adjust to the county commission funding cut, National Trail cut some programs, such as satellite soccer and recreation sites.

Detrick said he wants to see the joint district work and hopes to find a way to restore some money to National Trail yet this year and next year. But he also feels a moral obligation to continue to support the Clark County district.

He agrees parks are good for the community, but said the county has services mandated by the state it must pay for first, such as the sheriff’s office and jail.

“The perfect solution would be money ... We’re all faced with money issues and we’ve got to balance out where the best buy for our buck is,” Detrick said.

He also would like to see a wage freeze for NTPRD employees and golf to be self-sufficient.

“We want to see the project work, but we want to see the park district, however, become efficient, particularly in the golf area,” Detrick said.

Copeland agrees golf operations need to be more efficient. About 10 years ago, the golf courses provided profit to the system. But that has reversed and in the past several years the three courses have run a deficit of $200,000 to $400,000.

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