Wayne Twp. Seeks Info From Warsaw, Winona Parks Depts.
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
For a number of years, Wayne Township has had a contract with the Warsaw and Winona Lake parks departments where the township budgets funds for the parks since its residents make use of the parks, which also are in the township. As the Wayne Township Board has fairly new members who wanted more information on that contract and what the parks departments offer, it held a public meeting Wednesday afternoon with representatives of both parks departments to collect data and ask questions. Board President Rob Bishop said, “I know it’s been awhile since really we did a formal recap of where we are with the parks budget.” He said he’s fairly new, having taken over on the board after Mike Reed was named judge, and Board Secretary Erin Rowland joined about a year after that. “So I’m very new, too,” she said. The board’s other member is Vice President Gordon Nash, and Wayne Township trustee is Sheila Burner. “So we really have no historical knowledge of why we even contract for park services,” Bishop explained. “Obviously, you know we don’t own parks ourselves. So we wanted to go back over it. I know there’s been requests made already for this year. We do not plan on voting on that amount this year. I can tell you that we’re reviewing our budgets. Obviously, the demise of (Multi-Township EMS) and sell to Lutheran has really changed some of our numbers in our budget. We do not know where it’s going to fall yet, but we want to hear from you guys to reset that whole discussion and go from there.” Warsaw Parks & Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer presented the board with his department’s 2016 recreation guide, noting that there are 14,000 of them circulating. They get circulated through the Times-Union as well as being made available at local businesses, city hall, the park office, the senior center and anywhere anyone wants them. At the last First Friday, the Parks Department also had a booth where they gave out copies of the guides. Plummer went through all the events and activities Warsaw Parks provides to the community and Wayne Township, including 16 free programs, 16 fee-based programs to cover costs of the programs, nine free Central Park concerts on Friday nights and three free major concerts on Fridays, many rental facilities, 12 rentable shelters and cabins affordable to the public, the Pete Thorn Center for senior citizens, Hire Park for BMX bikers, the Biblical Gardens, two beaches with lifeguards, parks, skate parks, basketball courts and many others. He said they’re working on their five-year master plan. Based on feedback they got from a recent survey, over 50 percent of the people using Warsaw’s parks are not residents of the city, he said. In the past few years, Plummer said they got close to the amount requested from Wayne Township of $72,500, and he was requesting $75,000 this year. “I really believe the services and the amenities that we’re providing Wayne Township, that’s a good number and a fair number,” Plummer said. “Our operating budget is over $2 million, so it takes a lot to put good programs on, have good facilities and, of course, your contribution is very important to that.” Bishop asked if there were any places where residents paid a lower fee than other people, and Plummer said no. Rowland asked if Warsaw Parks got any funding from any other townships, and Plummer again said no. Rowland asked if Plummer’s department does any kind of tracking to determine where the users of all the parks and services are primarily coming from. Plummer said the only place they track are the concerts and activities, and he said he could get that data to her. Bishop told Plummer that Bill Holder, county GIS, was able to get him population numbers. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Wayne Township’s population was 27,551, of which the town of Winona Lake is 4,908 (17.82 percent); City of Warsaw, within Wayne Township, is 13,300 for 48.27 percent; and the unincorporated part of Wayne Township is only 33.19 percent of the township’s population. “That 33.19 percent is the target audience we’re talking about when we’re talking about a contract with each one of you,” Bishop said. Warsaw Park Board President Steve Haines told the Wayne Township Board, “I’ve been on the Park Board 10 years, 12 years, something like that, and I used to bark a lot about all the money they spend, but now that I’m on the board I’ve quieted down.” He said he’s impressed with how the department does what it does with just the funding it gets. “Larry’s done a super job, and I know he watches the money like it’s his own money,” Haines said. Rowland asked Haines if Wayne Township has provided funding for the 10-12 years he’s served on the board. Haines said it has. Holly Hummitch, Winona Lake Parks director, said a lot that her parks offers mirrors Warsaw’s but on a smaller scale. She said it offers a variety of programs and tries to incorporate activities for special needs. She said they’ve seen increased park patronage over the last two years greatly with its Splash Pad and new playground structure. With their growth, she said they’ve also had an increase in utilities and staffing and staffing wages to be competitive with what Warsaw was paying its employees. It has a senior center which offers a senior nutrition site. Hummitch continued that the park budget has increased from $144,000 in 2015 to $158,000 this year because of all of its operating costs. Town Coordinator Craig Allebach added that the park in Winona Lake has really transformed over the last couple of years with the Splash Pad and new playground structure. By the end of this week, he said he hoped the tennis courts will be striped, which was a $108,000 project funded by the K21 Foundation. He also spoke about Winona’s Greenway system, and how it’s all become a part of the park system. Bishop asked if the Greenway is technically a part of the parks department. Allebach said yes and that the parks maintenance guys do the snowblowing and things like that on the trails. For this year, Hummitch said her department was asking Wayne Township for $22,000, an increase of $10,000 over the “norm” of $12,000. In 2014, Winona received an additional $8,000 to go toward the Splash Pad. When Rowland asked if Winona got any additional funding from any other township, Hummitch said they did not. After some further discussion on possible projects Wayne Township’s funding could be earmarked for, and the different source of funding for the trails in Winona Lake, Bishop stated, “As I’ve indicated, we’re really having to revamp and look at our budget.” He said Umbaugh & Associates told Wayne Township they have some structural problems with their budget. “So I can’t tell you at all where we’re going to end up. I can tell you that the plan is that we’re going to submit (our budget to Umbaugh) before it goes to any of the appropriate authorities and (they’re) going to review it and tell us where we’re at.”
