At the May 7 meeting Superintendent Shannon Eason delivered the Parks Department’s first-quarter report, highlighting an array of capital, program and maintenance items including an AED grant, a newly installed food pantry, closure of a lengthy hail-damage insurance claim, graffiti and an equipment trailer for neighborhood cleanups.

Eason told the board that administrator Melissa Moore secured a Health Care Foundation of La Porte grant that supplied seven automated external defibrillators, signage and two cabinets — a donation the superintendent valued at about $13,000; Eason said buying the same items outside the grant would have cost more than $17,000.

Eason described a new food pantry installed at Water Tower Park on April 25, built by the Carpenters Union, painted by a city kids day camp and seeded with a $350 donation from Van Goose Realtors. "I was at the park today and it was actually self stocked," Eason said.

On insurance matters, Eason said the department closed out nearly a year of hail-damage claims that had affected roughly 45 roofs citywide and that the claim process involved extensive documentation and coordination, particularly at the zoo. She described the total citywide storm damage as about $1.2 million as reported in the meeting.

Eason also reported several vandalism and graffiti incidents with itemized costs presented to the board: graffiti at the bandstand on April 17 ($90), graffiti at the bandstand on May 5 ($110) and damage at Pullman Park ($805). She said the real operational impact was lost labor time — staff logged seven lost labor hours cleaning vandalism since the last meeting.

The department also purchased a neighborhood cleanup trailer with funding through the mayor’s neighborhood beautification program; Cable and Ace Hardware donated supplies to stock the trailer. Eason said maintenance will deliver the trailer to community groups upon request and the city attorney is preparing a checkout agreement.

Eason described a pilot for wireless cameras using the school system’s fiber network that would be provided at no long-term cost to the parks department; she said Water Tower Park will be among the first installations. The report also noted that Greens superintendent Michael Moore filled a full-time maintenance labor position on April 17, and that seasonal hiring is improving.

The board accepted the quarterly report by voice vote.