CLAYPOOL – The town is looking at reforming its park board for the first time in years.
Claypool Clerk-Treasurer Miccah Shepherd told town council Monday that the town will need a park board in order to apply for park grants.
Claypool is considering acreage west of the municipal building for a new park, which may include playground equipment for kids and exercise stations for adults.
The area has a few amenities now, such as a pavilion. Town playground equipment was taken down five years ago because it was aged and no longer safe.
The previous park board was dismantled sometime before that, and its budget folded into the general fund. Residents at the meeting recalled Claypool establishing a park with leftover money from its 1973 centennial.
Council President Niki Miller said she was on the park board when she came to town 27 years ago, and supported the re-establishment of a board. Miller, a newly elected board member, was named council president at the January meeting.
The park board will need at least four members, including two town officials and two residents, and its membership must represent both political parties. Councilman Don Miller said the board could oversee things in town besides the park itself, such as tables and benches downtown.
Shepherd said she will look at gathering interest for board membership.
Council members also agreed Monday to include water meter reading in the duties of water department employees. Claypool was previously paying someone else $75 a month to read meters, but council members decided to save the money.
Town officials and residents also began counting down the days until the Ind. 15 railroad overpass opens again. The overpass was closed that morning for reconstruction, and is slated to reopen in September.
In the meantime, residents are forced to detour along bumpy, hilly county roads to get in and out of town.
Residents expressed doubt that the deadline would be met by construction crews.
“Let’s put it this way – after 185 days, the penalties get pretty stiff,” Don Miller observed.
