Carmel keeps Founders Park sand, defends Monon Community Center finances and cites new parks police unit

Carmel officials at a Brookshire town hall discussed several parks and recreation topics, including a decision to retain Founders Park’s sand feature, fencing to improve playground safety, financials for the Monon Community Center and a new parks-focused police program. Rich Taylor, at-large city councilor, said the Founders Park sand feature will remain after review and that the parks department will replace degraded safety surfacing and install fencing between the playground and the parking lot to prevent children from running into traffic. “There's a little bit of uproar about getting rid of the sand feature at, Founders Park, and the sand feature will remain,” Taylor said. Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation staff explained the maintenance rationale. Michael Klickstein, director of Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation (present at the meeting), said sand contributes to abrasion that increases wear on the rubberized safety surfacing, which raises replacement needs; he said engineers approved the original installation and that there had been no significant tort claims tied to the playground since installation. On the Monon Community Center and its water park, councilors reiterated that the original financing commitment required that operating income cover operating expenses (excluding capital expenditures). The parks director said the center has covered operating costs since 2010 except for pandemic closures; board packets with current financials are available on request. “The operational income would cover the operational expenses, not including capital expenditures,” a parks official said. Safety and enforcement: Chief Greg Sterling described the Parks Resource Officer (PRO) program, launched in March, that assigns two full-time police officers to parks and pools. Sterling said the PROs have done more than 100 hours of bike-control work this year and have conducted more than 50 enforcement efforts on electric dirt bikes and similar vehicles in recent weeks, including citations, warnings, parental notifications and, in some cases, towing of illegal vehicles. “We've really focused on that and done kind of a what we would call a blitz on that,” Sterling said. Why it matters: The items affect playground safety, pool/water-park operations and user safety on trails and facilities. Officials encouraged residents to review posted financials and to communicate maintenance or safety concerns to parks staff. Next steps: Parks will install added fencing at Founders Park, continue monitoring surfacing needs, maintain Monon Community Center financial reporting, and continue PRO enforcement and education on trails and at parks.