Winnsboro Rotary asks city for final funding to add metal cover, picnic area at Rotary Park

At a municipal meeting in Winnsboro, members of the Winnsboro Rotary requested city funding to finish Rotary Park with a permanent metal shade cover, an expanded concrete picnic pad, additional fencing and picnic tables.

The Rotary presenters said the project is intended to make the park usable in rain and extreme heat, allow families to hold events locally and reduce trips out of town for shaded playgrounds. "We're really wanting this park to be an all weather park, with shelter ... for the rain and the sun," Jennifer Heitman told council members, identifying herself as representing the Winnsboro Rotary.

Presenters gave a cost figure that was later corrected. They initially referenced a $56,000 total but said they had corrected their application to show $44,100. The group said the cover vendor lists a 15-day construction window from a September 25 bid date and that the metal structure is intended to be low-maintenance and long-lasting. "I think it's gonna be a very long lasting structure," a presenter said, comparing it to the Jack Cross Pavilion.

Council members asked several practical questions during the presentation. One asked if planting trees had been considered; the Rotary responded that an overhead electric line across the site would complicate tree planting and that trees would take years to provide comparable shade. The group also said electrical service at the site would make future lighting feasible. Wood County Electric previously supplied a grant for phase 1 of the park; presenters said that earlier work (phase 1) cost about $35,000 and that a Wood County Electric grant of about $12,000 helped start that phase.

Presenters described intended uses for the completed project — shaded playground and picnic space for birthday parties and family gatherings — and emphasized scholarships and other community projects the Rotary supports. Council members did not take a formal vote on the Rotary’s funding request during the recorded portion of the meeting. Presenters were told they would also need final approval by the city and could apply for additional grant programs.

Votes and formal actions recorded elsewhere on the agenda included approval of consent items (revenue/expense report; sales tax snapshot; farmers market report) by a recorded voice vote of "All 4," and a later motion to convene an executive session under Texas Local Government Code §551.087, which the council announced it was entering. Neither of those actions constituted a formal decision on the Rotary funding request in the transcript excerpt.