Haslet park board presses for clarity on Park Fund 15 spending, project decisions

Haslet Park Board members on Aug. 13 pressed city staff for clearer accounting and a return of formal review authority after they discovered additional engineering expenditures and new park installations they said were completed or approved without the board''s prior involvement. The board said a $72,004.03 line item appeared in recent accounting for Community Park engineering and that year-to-date engineering allocations now total roughly $174,500; staff and board members said the board had not been given full details about what the funds paid for. The board also discussed recently installed or proposed items at Community Park and Firehouse Field, including drainage work, box culverts, replacement LED field lights, dugout benches and quotes for modular restrooms and a storage area. Why it matters: the park board is the advisory body the city uses to review park needs and recommend capital work; members said Park Fund 15 (the park development fee) has been the usual source for capital improvements and that they were not briefed before some projects moved…