Parks board president Patty Broyles said at Monday’s meeting she wants to make sure she and others members of the board all share the same goals and vision.

“We want to keep a safe and welcoming place in all of our nine parks,” she said. Broyles also reminded the board about Lofton’s concerns and said the board needed to fix the problems he and others have brought to light.

She also asked the board to consider whether or not the city can afford to maintain and operate nine parks – Baker, Osborne, Lowe and six pocket parks scattered throughout the city – and suggested the citizens of the community might be better served if one or more of the smaller, less used parks was sold with the proceeds earmarked for improvements in the remaining parks.

Mayor York said selling a park would not be well received by the public.

“If we got rid of a park, we would be flogged, tarred and feathered. We can’t eliminate any parks,” he said.

As for broken playground equipment, Broyles suggested anything broken should be removed immediately and either stored until funds are available to repair it or sold for scrap.

She also shared details of the parks department budget, which has been significantly cut in recent years, and noted there are only two parks department employees who are responsible for mowing roughly 120 acres of grass in addition to the various other tasks associated with park upkeep and maintenance.

“Our number one goal is to continue to maintain and upgrade facilities and equipment, provide a family-friendly and inclusive park experience by reducing vandalism and improving security,” Broyles said. “We need to keep the parks clean and visually appealing, provide safe areas and equipment for children to play. Right now, we don’t have a very good grade on that. (We need to) develop accessible play areas and restrooms.”

Mayor Greg York suggested board members need to experience a hands-on look at what’s needed in the parks and said some of the concerns recently expressed could be taken care of with a little “elbow grease.” He also questioned the willingness of some of those being critical on social media to actually help with a solution rather than just sitting in front of a computer complaining.

“If we invite everybody (complaining) on Facebook to a work day, I would be interested to see how many of those people showed up to actually put a little elbow grease in,” the mayor said.

Brenda Grider, a city employee voluntarily acting as an unofficial liaison between some of those voicing concerns about the condition of the parks and the city, presented the board with a list recapping the most frequently heard complaints. She also submitted a maintenance plan for the parks created by some of those concerned citizens.

Grider said there are people and businesses willing to donate funds and labor to improve the parks and voiced her support for a work day involving the board as well as volunteers from the community.

Mayor York said he would prefer a board members only work day initially, so the board would be more knowledgable about the condition of the equipment in the parks and what they are up against.

The consensus of the board was in support of the mayor’s suggestion and after checking their schedules, the board agreed to meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the pocket park on N. Main Street and visit other parks including the mini-park in the “Hospital Heights” neighborhood to assess needs and attempt to repair damaged equipment and/or engage in other general improvement activities.

The board will then meet at 5:30 p.m. June 19 in council chambers on the second floor of the municipal building, 227 N. Main St., to discuss what they learned from their June 13 field trip.