County parks chief makes district’s case to Salem officials | News, Sports, Jobs
County parks chief makes district’s case to Salem officials, Local News
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SALEM — Columbiana County Park District commissioner Tom Butch is making the rounds at village, city and township meetings, stumping for opinions on the district’s strategic plan.
“We just want to get the public’s input,” Butch said.
In an effort to chart their course for the next five years, park district board members are asking residents to share their thoughts on what should be done to improve the park system.
Visit https://oed.columbianacodev.org/parksurvey/ or use the QR code that’s on posters being placed in public spots throughout the county. To learn more about the park district and events coming up, visit the park district website at columbianacountyparkdistrict.com.
Butch recently shared information with several members of Salem City Council during a Public Services Committee meeting, explaining the county park district never had a strategic plan before and Tad Herold, director of the county Development Department, is helping them out.
The district is responsible for maintaining 950 acres of park area and 17 miles of public trails including the Greenway Trail, Scenic Vista Park, Hellbender Bluff Park and the Supreme Court Picnic Area. Five volunteer board members oversee operations. Besides Butch, those members include David Hughes, Eileen Dray-Bardon, Dottie Betz and Tim Brooks.
Butch said they’re pretty frugal with their money, but the district will likely be broke in a few years. Expenses are about $70,000 per year, but revenue totals about $25,000, which includes $15,000 per year from the Local Government Fund distribution. A gas and oil signing bonus and royalties have helped the past 10 years, but it’s not expected to last, with a projection of being in the red by 2026.
Butch said no decisions have been made, but a levy may be one possibility for the November ballot. A levy attempt in 2020 failed, but not by much, 52 percent against and 48 percent in favor. That time a .25 percent levy would have generated $400,000 per year.
Councilman Steve Faber asked if that would be enough to maintain what they have and what they want to do.
“We believe that would give us some breathing room,” Butch said, adding they would like to have a part-time parks director.
Besides having a dedicated income stream for park and trail maintenance, proposed plans for the future could include seeing if there’s a viable way to extend the Greenway Trail south to East Liverpool, building a playground area at Hellbender Bluff and updating the bicycle pump track, improvements to the disc golf course at Scenic Vista, including adding tee pads and a permanent restroom at the park, improving signage so people can better find park locations and adding a kayak and canoe launch.
The county park district was formed in the mid-1970’s, with the townships of Knox, Middleton and Liverpool choosing not to be a part of it, along with the village of Rogers, according to Butch.
Mayor John Berlin asked if they investigated how other communities fund their parks. Butch said Ashtabula and Mahoning counties have levies and Trumbull County gets funding from county commissioners but is looking at a levy for the fall.