The Bellefontaine Joint Recreation District board held their February meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 30, due to the conflict of the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association’s annual conference in Sandusky, Feb. 4-7. (EXAMINER PHOTO | SHARYN KOPF)
With the 2024 program guide almost finished, Kris Myer, park superintendent, announced registrations for all spring, summer and fall sports will be open as of Feb. 12. The Bellefontaine Joint Recreation District (BJRD) board perused the schedule in a draft of the guide Myers handed out at their Tuesday, Jan. 30, meeting.
The program also shows the Hoffman Municipal Pool season will be extended through Saturday, Aug. 31, this year, something they’ve been working toward for a while.
“But,” he added, “we’ll probably go with a four-hour day those last three weeks, based on staff availability.”
\The tri-fold brochure will be sent out to Bellefontaine City Schools, grades kindergarten to 8th, along with local preschools, the Board of Developmental Disabilities and Calvary Christian School.
At the start of Tuesday’s meeting, Pat Ellis, board president, introduced Bellefontaine Councilman Nick Davis, who will serve as liaison between the city council and the BJRD board this year. Davis, who spent three years with the National Park Service under the Trump administration and was elected onto the city council in Nov. 2023, started with good news.
At the last council meeting, he stated, they passed a resolution to use capital budget funds to pave the Simon Kenton trail. The Logan County Commissioners Office has requested $2.5 million to complete the Urbana-Bellefontaine connector.
In other BJRD board action:
- Efforts to improve the restrooms at four parks continue, as Myers met with the finance committee to go over that capital request. Though he doesn’t have final numbers yet, he told the board the buildings have “significant issues to deal with.” He listed the facilities at Rutan Park, north and south Ratleff and Southview.
Updates include four-inch concrete block dividers, two-third steel doors instead of restroom dividers and rearranging space to improve the flow. “If it goes through,” Myers told the board, “we want to have drawings ready so we can get moving.” They hope to have it done in time for the spring season. This matter was high on their list when they created a master plan last year.
“These bathrooms date back to the early 1970s, so it’s time,” Myers concluded.
- Significant January winds took down three light poles at Rutan Park. They found rot at the bottom of the poles and have decided to disassemble and decommission the rest of the lighting system.
- Myers met with the Logan County Visitors Bureau and Small Nation to discuss ways to get the word out regarding the influx of guests the area will see due to the five baseball/softball tournaments they’re hosting this spring and summer. An email with information like dining and lodging options will be sent to participants.
- The job opening to replace Jon Mathys, who’s retiring as cemetery and park maintenance supervisor this summer, has been posted and will close on Friday, Feb. 9. “Losing him from our team is a hard thing for me personally,” Myers admitted. They hope to hire the new employee in time to get training from Mathys.
- From Feb. 4 to 7, Myers and Tim Hales, recreation coordinator, will be at the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association Conference & Trade Show in Sandusky, which is why the regular February board meeting was held this past Tuesday.
- Myers learned Ohio Hi-Point has 12 students who have been certified as lifeguards and are looking for summer jobs. The department hopes to work with them as part of the Hoffman pool staff.
In addition, Myers said they’re close to improving the slide structure. They also plan to tear down the light poles at the pool since they don’t use them. Those will be replaced with wood posts for the speakers.
- A volunteer committee to inform the public regarding the parks levy, which will be on the ballot in March, plans to send out postcards and is already engaging in the matter on social media. One message they’re focused on is making sure people know this levy won’t affect non-earned income like retirement funds.
- In new business, the board approved the Hi-Point Youth Sports accounts. The update let the board see the accounts are in good standing regarding the use of those funds. Myers said they’ve seen positive changes.
On a related note, he anticipates numbers for flag football will go up this year since they scheduled practices and games so they won’t interfere with soccer.
The next BJRD board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5, at 7 p.m.