Public Fail To Show At Input Meeting For Warsaw Parks
May 19, 2021 at 12:42 a.m.
By David [email protected]
The deadline for completion of the survey is June 1.
The public input meeting was held after the regular Parks Board meeting adjourned.
During the regular meeting, Deb Schmucker, president and landscape architect with Cornerstone PDS, said the survey was well underway. As of Tuesday morning, it had 396 respondents. She said she’s met with Parks staff during the last five to six weeks and she’s talked with Superintendent Larry Plummer pretty frequently.
“I’ve met with staff and we’ve been assessing existing inventory, existing park facility and recreation programming,” she said.
She encouraged anyone who uses the parks to fill out the survey until June 1 and for them to encourage their friends and neighbors to fill the survey out.
“A community this size, we’d love to have more than 400 people give us input,” she said, later noting the 400 was about 100 more than the last survey five years ago.
After the regular meeting adjourned, Schmucker explained that a master plan was like a road map for the Parks Department. With no members of the public present to comment, she opened the meeting up to the Parks Board members to talk about what the Parks strengths were, what areas need improvements and are there opportunities for the future.
Noemi Ponce, Board member, asked if any of the surveys were targeted toward the youth or disseminated in a way that youth would be aware of the survey. Plummer said that each of the community schools had it through the Peachjar app. Recreation Director Sheila Wieringa said the survey was “generally for the parents, I believe.” Schmucker said the survey was geared more toward adults, but she could tell youth filled out some.
Ponce said her son is 16 and he talks about the basketball courts being well lit a little bit past 9 p.m.
“I’m not sure how that works, but I know a well-lit area, and playing at a basketball court, is safer than being out and about doing other things,” Ponce said, advocating for safe places for kids to be.
Board President Steve Haines wanted to talk about the parks’ strengths. He said the number of parks and programs they have is “amazing.” He said Plummer, Wieringa, Maintenance Director Shaun Gardner and administrative assistant Heather Vogts “all do a great job. I think, right here, is the nucleus of why our parks is so good. These four people have done an outstanding job for years. I’m proud of you.”
Jill Beehler, Parks Board member, said they have diverse parks in different areas. She said, “I think everything is so well kept up. It’s all beautiful.”
People from different socio-economic backgrounds can take part in the programming, Ponce said, and she appreciated that when she was a stay-at-home mom. She now teaches at the high school.
Diane Quance, Common Council representative to the Parks Board, said, “I think, too, our parks are highly used during good weather and kind of more seasonally. And, it would take more staff, but as we look ahead to buildings that we might build ... or whatever, I know a lot of the parks in other parts of the country have programming year-round. ... So I think we have an opportunity there maybe to provide some educational programs, some enrichment programs, some quality-of-life programs, but ... looking ahead as we look at what kinds of facilities we want to build and what kinds of programming we want to offer, because I totally agree our staff right now is overworked. They work way beyond what they can do.”
She said they could look at expanding so the parks aren’t just used from April to November.
A link to the survey can be found at https://www.warsaw.in.gov/486/Master-Plan
Earlier in the meeting, Plummer gave the Board an update on the new park office and maintenance facility project.
“We’re currently in what’s called a scoping period. That is when you have a developer that is going through the process, looking at the drawings that we had, trying to identify the materials of the building. To get the best quality building for the best price. So that’s what the scoping period is,” Plummer said.
Once that process is completed, he said, “They’ll give us a guaranteed maximum price. We can review that and see where we’re at with that. And once that process is done, that will be taken to the Council for approval.”
Plummer said the behind-the-scenes progress is moving along with that building and “we’re excited about that. We so want to get in that building.”
In other business, the Park Board:
• Heard from Plummer that the playground area at Ker Park on East Market Street is coming along.
• Heard from Gardner that all the downtown flower beds were planted and mulched last week. Over 1,000 flowers were planted, and they are still working on the park flower beds.
• Heard from Wieringa that Thursday, the Fort Wayne Ballet was coming for a free performance at Glover Pavilion at Central Park. The show is 7 to 8:30 p.m.
“And then the following Friday is our First Friday Night concert and then after that, all programming starts,” she said.
• Heard a concern from Andy Bleacher about the grass at Pike Lake Campground. He said the grass has been a real problem and it seems to only get mowed every three weeks. He said he loved the campground though.
“I’m not a camper, but I’ve been there for five years and I love it. I couldn’t ask for better. The people are good,” he said, but he was afraid of falling because he’s handicapped and the grass has been tall.
Gardner explained that staff has been limited and they’ve had other bigger priorities, but it will be mowed once a week going forward for the rest of the camping season. It was mowed Monday morning. He apologized.
Plummer said if the grass wasn’t maintained, give him a call or come back and see the Park Board again. Bleacher said he would.
Plummer then read a thank-you letter from a camping couple for “maintaining such a scenic place right in the heart of the city.”
The deadline for completion of the survey is June 1.
The public input meeting was held after the regular Parks Board meeting adjourned.
During the regular meeting, Deb Schmucker, president and landscape architect with Cornerstone PDS, said the survey was well underway. As of Tuesday morning, it had 396 respondents. She said she’s met with Parks staff during the last five to six weeks and she’s talked with Superintendent Larry Plummer pretty frequently.
“I’ve met with staff and we’ve been assessing existing inventory, existing park facility and recreation programming,” she said.
She encouraged anyone who uses the parks to fill out the survey until June 1 and for them to encourage their friends and neighbors to fill the survey out.
“A community this size, we’d love to have more than 400 people give us input,” she said, later noting the 400 was about 100 more than the last survey five years ago.
After the regular meeting adjourned, Schmucker explained that a master plan was like a road map for the Parks Department. With no members of the public present to comment, she opened the meeting up to the Parks Board members to talk about what the Parks strengths were, what areas need improvements and are there opportunities for the future.
Noemi Ponce, Board member, asked if any of the surveys were targeted toward the youth or disseminated in a way that youth would be aware of the survey. Plummer said that each of the community schools had it through the Peachjar app. Recreation Director Sheila Wieringa said the survey was “generally for the parents, I believe.” Schmucker said the survey was geared more toward adults, but she could tell youth filled out some.
Ponce said her son is 16 and he talks about the basketball courts being well lit a little bit past 9 p.m.
“I’m not sure how that works, but I know a well-lit area, and playing at a basketball court, is safer than being out and about doing other things,” Ponce said, advocating for safe places for kids to be.
Board President Steve Haines wanted to talk about the parks’ strengths. He said the number of parks and programs they have is “amazing.” He said Plummer, Wieringa, Maintenance Director Shaun Gardner and administrative assistant Heather Vogts “all do a great job. I think, right here, is the nucleus of why our parks is so good. These four people have done an outstanding job for years. I’m proud of you.”
Jill Beehler, Parks Board member, said they have diverse parks in different areas. She said, “I think everything is so well kept up. It’s all beautiful.”
People from different socio-economic backgrounds can take part in the programming, Ponce said, and she appreciated that when she was a stay-at-home mom. She now teaches at the high school.
Diane Quance, Common Council representative to the Parks Board, said, “I think, too, our parks are highly used during good weather and kind of more seasonally. And, it would take more staff, but as we look ahead to buildings that we might build ... or whatever, I know a lot of the parks in other parts of the country have programming year-round. ... So I think we have an opportunity there maybe to provide some educational programs, some enrichment programs, some quality-of-life programs, but ... looking ahead as we look at what kinds of facilities we want to build and what kinds of programming we want to offer, because I totally agree our staff right now is overworked. They work way beyond what they can do.”
She said they could look at expanding so the parks aren’t just used from April to November.
A link to the survey can be found at https://www.warsaw.in.gov/486/Master-Plan
Earlier in the meeting, Plummer gave the Board an update on the new park office and maintenance facility project.
“We’re currently in what’s called a scoping period. That is when you have a developer that is going through the process, looking at the drawings that we had, trying to identify the materials of the building. To get the best quality building for the best price. So that’s what the scoping period is,” Plummer said.
Once that process is completed, he said, “They’ll give us a guaranteed maximum price. We can review that and see where we’re at with that. And once that process is done, that will be taken to the Council for approval.”
Plummer said the behind-the-scenes progress is moving along with that building and “we’re excited about that. We so want to get in that building.”
In other business, the Park Board:
• Heard from Plummer that the playground area at Ker Park on East Market Street is coming along.
• Heard from Gardner that all the downtown flower beds were planted and mulched last week. Over 1,000 flowers were planted, and they are still working on the park flower beds.
• Heard from Wieringa that Thursday, the Fort Wayne Ballet was coming for a free performance at Glover Pavilion at Central Park. The show is 7 to 8:30 p.m.
“And then the following Friday is our First Friday Night concert and then after that, all programming starts,” she said.
• Heard a concern from Andy Bleacher about the grass at Pike Lake Campground. He said the grass has been a real problem and it seems to only get mowed every three weeks. He said he loved the campground though.
“I’m not a camper, but I’ve been there for five years and I love it. I couldn’t ask for better. The people are good,” he said, but he was afraid of falling because he’s handicapped and the grass has been tall.
Gardner explained that staff has been limited and they’ve had other bigger priorities, but it will be mowed once a week going forward for the rest of the camping season. It was mowed Monday morning. He apologized.
Plummer said if the grass wasn’t maintained, give him a call or come back and see the Park Board again. Bleacher said he would.
Plummer then read a thank-you letter from a camping couple for “maintaining such a scenic place right in the heart of the city.”
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