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Parks superintendent outlines projects; council schedules special appropriation review
Summary
Parks Superintendent Kelly Smith reported park improvements including milling and paving Blue Spruce parking lot and a September opening for new pickleball courts; the clerk-treasurer and mayor discussed a special meeting to adjust budget line items and an upcoming audit release.
Kelly Smith, Portage park superintendent, updated the council on park projects and events and said crews milled the Blue Spruce parking lot and planned to pave it on Friday; striping will follow after a 30-day cure period. Smith said the city expects the new pickleball courts to open in September and described a busy event calendar including a themed Friday market, a mechanical bull, a foam cannon and a DJ on market days, a November comedy show, and a Booze and Brews festival in Oakwood following the haunted hayride.
Smith said the parks department has taken on mowing of about 100 acres this year (up from 50 last year) without additional staff and credited volunteers and partners for trail cleanups. She reported 126 approved seasonal vendors for the market and said the parks department is adjusting the haunted hayride layout to improve circulation, check-in and wait times.
Clerk-Treasurer Liz reported completion of a State Board of Accounts audit exit conference on July 24; she said the formal audit report should be posted on Gateway soon. She also said the finance office found nepotism and conflict-of-interest forms that need updating and asked council members and department heads to complete those forms.
Smith and Liz said the city needs a special meeting to process a bond and an additional appropriation to reallocate budget line items that had been set low under a nonreverting assumption; the parks department has generated revenue but needs line-item reappropriation so the year-end accounting is correct. The mayor and clerk proposed a special meeting in mid-August (Aug. 19 was suggested) to allow staff time to prepare the appropriation paperwork.
The council set no final appropriation during the meeting; staff said the special meeting would be scheduled and advertised to handle the budget adjustments.
