Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
BY DAVID A. BEALL, Times-Union Staff Writer
Answering the call of nature while communing with nature can be an embarrassing experience in McKinley Park - a situation Betty Gilbert and Jenny Ransbottom want addressed next year.
"I see these parks being used by people from outside the neighborhood and there's no place for them to use the restroom," Gilbert said. "I took my grandchildren to the park this summer and we saw a young teenage girl going behind a tree."
Gilbert requested that portable toilets be placed in McKinley Park next season to alleviate such occurrences next summer.
Her request was echoed by Ransbottom, who said the expense should be well within the parks department budget.
"With the amount of money that goes into the parks, it's my opinion that this is not too much to ask and it's something that needs to be done," she said.
Board President Don Clemens said the decision to place the portable toilets was a decision that rests with the staff, and not within the purview of the board.
"It needs to be evaluated by the staff, taking a look at their budget and the needs of the parks," he said. "It doesn't have to be a board decision, but something the park personnel need to decide on their own."
Parks Superintendent Jon Garber said the portable toilets haven't been placed in the smaller neighborhood parks because in his experience they tend to cause more problems, in terms of vandalism and clutter, than the convenience they would provide.
"But we can give it a try for a year and see how it goes," Garber said.
In other business, the board approved two events for the remaining three concert dates open for Central Park for 1999.
First Presbyterian Church will sponsor its annual Christian concert July 17, according to Ron Roetman, assistant pastor of the church.
"We're moving our time up to 6 p.m. so we can avoid setting up lights," he said. "Other than that, it will be similar to the programs we've had the last three years."
New Life Christian Church will present SonSpalsh '99 Aug. 14, according to Don Roulo.
"We're not going to have a two-day event like we did this year," he said. "We'll have six artists perform between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m.," he said.
The event will still offer free food and have the food giveaway in conjunction with the Salvation Army and Combined Community Services, Roulo said.
The board announced there will be no December meeting. The next park board meeting will be Jan. 19.
