Ken, parks staff, told the County Property Committee on July 25 that crews have been restoring a long‑used horse arena, installing a new entry ramp and preparing parking areas while continuing routine mowing and stewardship of natural areas.
The work includes herbiciding and burning of the arena surface to expose limestone screenings, debris removal at a planned parking area and installation of a ramp that is not yet fully tied in for regular pedestrian use. "We herbicide it all down and actually burnt it off ... that's limestone screenings and that's what's supposed to be on the bottom," Ken said, describing the steps taken to return the arena surface to its intended material.
Why it matters: committee members said the improvements could increase reservations and public use once finished, while staff flagged remaining steps — especially tying the ramp into a safe walking surface — before the facility is made available for formal rental.
Committee members asked staff to coordinate with volunteers and outside contacts. Dave asked whether Ken was working with volunteers; Ken said he could reach out to Steve Duffy and Rick (last name unclear in transcript) to let them know the county’s plans and to coordinate filling the arena approach with rock. Ken also said he will invite users and groups to see the facility when work is complete and expects to make it reservable next year rather than this season.
Ken described routine maintenance and event preparations at other sites: mowing and stewarding seeded natural areas at "Chavin" and "Catlin," hand‑pulling ragweed and pokeweed, power washing pavilion areas in advance of a large annual event at "Shavena," and herbiciding parking lots. He said a summer helper named Jonas is working for a second season and is expected to return next year.
Discussion, direction and next steps: Ken said the ramp should be finished in about a week and that he will draft reservation and cleaning‑deposit rules for the new building, noting current reservation fees cited in the meeting (about $150 for larger events, $100 for smaller events). He agreed to reach out to identified volunteers and to bring a formal budget request for monument and site work at Shabano to the next committee meeting.
No formal committee action was required or taken on the parks work during the meeting; staff asked the committee for guidance about reservation fees and said a formal presentation of next year’s budget and specific project estimates will be available at the next meeting.