Work associated with drafting a five-year master plan for New Castle’s parks is ahead of schedule, so much so that a planned meeting of the parks board originally scheduled for Nov. 16 has been canceled.
Monday, Eric Frey of Administrative Resources Association presented parks board members with a preliminary draft of the plan as well as a related timeline for implementation. Frey told the board if they wanted to make any changes, now is the time to do so as he hopes to finalize the document and submit it to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources by their Jan. 15, 2016 deadline. He would prefer sending it sooner than that if possible, he said.
“We’re now about 80 percent done with your draft narrative,” Frey said, adding that he hopes to have the narrative completed by the end of the week. “It has come together amazingly quickly and I applaud your efforts to get this done.”
“Anything that we can do that doesn’t cost a lot of money, I’d like to do in 2016 to keep the momentum going,” parks board president Patty Broyles said.
Projects the plan calls for in 2016 include establishing a Parks Foundation, either as a fund at the Henry County Community Foundation or independent of the HCCF; restroom upgrades at Baker Park; security upgrades at Baker Park; landscaping at all parks; removing and replacing grills where applicable; removal of old or broken playground equipment where applicable; addressing parking concerns at Baker and Osborne Park, especially around athletic facilities; reconstructing the Memorial Wall in Baker Park and constructing a skateboard park in Baker Park.
Most of these projects are contingent on securing funding, which is one of the reasons a master plan is being drafted. It has been said several times that without a DNR-approved master plan on file, it is difficult to secure grants and other funding that may be available for parks-related projects and improvements.
The idea of charging for use of park shelter houses was also discussed.
Board members have researched how other communities similar in size to New Castle address this issue. Broyles said she would like to see a charge of $35 for shelter rental with no damage deposit for Henry County residents and a $50 rental charge with no damage deposit for people visiting from outside Henry County. Churches and 501(c)3 organizations would not be required to pay. Functions such as the bluegrass jam in the main shelter house at Baker Park, which takes place Monday evenings throughout the summer, would be grandfathered in and would not be charged either; however, if groups like the bluegrass musicians and their fans wanted to make a donation of some kind it would be welcomed.
“I think this is a good starting point,” board member Dave Nantz said.
No action on the idea of charging for shelter rental was taken, though the issue is expected to be addressed at the board’s next meeting at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 7 in council chambers on the second floor of city jail, 227 N. Main St., New Castle.
Parks Superintendent Dan Denney reported some new trees recently were planted in local parks including five red maples. A 12-foot blue spruce was removed from South Mound Cemetery and transplanted to Osborne Park as well, he said.
