The County Property Committee on Aug. 8 received a parks maintenance briefing and voted to forward a resolution amending Cantland Park archery deer-hunting rules to the full board.

Ken, a staff member, told the committee the parks crew completed limestone grading in the horse arena, added trails through a woodland area, and installed 13 new 8-foot laminate tables in the new building. He said the tables would seat about 10 people at the edge of each table and estimated a fully packed room would hold roughly 130 people. “13 tables will fit. That’s basically full,” Ken said.

Why it matters: The maintenance work affects public access and event capacity at Cantland Park and other county parks; the committee also took a formal step on hunting rules that will go before the full board.

On hunting rules, Ken said the only substantive change he proposed was to allow crossbow hunting consistent with current state practice. He also said he adjusted the close-of-season date to match the state, changing a previously listed Jan. 15 to Jan. 18. “The only real thing I changed this year … is to allow crossbow hunting,” Ken said.

Committee members discussed hours and safety. Committee member asked whether the hour-before-sunrise and hour-after-sunset access meant the park opened and closed at those times. Ken said park hours remain unchanged; instead, hunters may enter for the permitted hunting window by using a lockbox so staff need not arrive an hour early every day. After a committee exchange about the correct state standard, Ken agreed to change the rule in the draft to 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset to match the state regulation.

Ken said hunters mark stand locations with GPS via a phone app; his assistant, Travis, receives the locations on his phone. He said stands must be at least 100 yards apart and that typically 15–20 stands were used last year, with a maximum sign-up limit of 10 hunters per day. “I think last year we probably had about 15, 20,” Ken said.

The committee voted to forward the resolution amending Cantland Park archery deer-hunting rules and regulations to the full board. Mike made the motion; Gary seconded. The chair called for the ayes and said, “Motion carries.” The motion record in the meeting shows it was forwarded; the committee did not record a roll-call vote in the transcript.

The parks staff will update the rules to explicitly state the 30-minute-before/after sunrise-sunset restriction, and Ken said he would circulate the revised language to Amanda for review.

The committee also approved sending the parks items discussed to the finance committee for budgeting and follow-up.