GALION — At the most recent Parks and Recreation Committee Meeting, a variety of topics were discussed on the agenda, including how the cleaning of parks is going to be handled in 2023.
An idea was submitted to outsource the cleaning and have an outside company handle it every so often, but that won’t be the case. The city is going to work on a weekend schedule that would allow workers to help out during those times, which would likely be overtime pay. All other park cleanings could be done on Mondays.
“If some of the mess and we know it is, is related to the rentals, we will look to recover some of those costs,” said mayor Tom O’Leary.
O’Leary pointed out of issues arise from parks being left in the shape they weren’t in before, the city may have to look into raising fees for renting areas.
It was brought up to potentially go back to taking deposits for rentals, but that is not going to be an option. The mayor pointed out that it was a cost in itself to cut checks for each deposit that was returned. Mayor O’Leary pointed out that when there are only three issues in 75 rentals, it’s not too bad of a case.
Moving on, a motion was made to send the second part of the agenda to the council, which was the ODNR grant that will be utilized for mainly South Park.
Grant funding will not exceed approximately $11,000 for the money the city will obtain. Those dollars are significantly less amount than those received from the same grant in the past.
“In past years we’ve gotten nearly $50,000,” said O’Leary. “That’s why it’s worth mentioning it’s a lot less.
The money will be used to purchase multiple picnic-style tables that will run around $1,200, according to O’Leary.
