Parks director reports Earth Day turnout, nature center progress; maintenance to study in‑house mowing

Ken Hensley of the parks department described Earth Day activities at Catlin Park, noting fewer school groups than the prior year but strong participation from FFA students who helped pull garlic mustard and learned about ticks. Hensley showed photographs of a partially completed nature center with interactive displays (map, fungus area, butterfly and geology exhibits) and said children spent 40–45 minutes engaging with the displays.

Hensley said a water‑sampling plan is under way for the park's bathhouse; he has consulted a water expert from US Silica (Todd Lindbald) to review sampling and treatment options and said repeated non‑coliform positives are likely related to stagnation rather than the well source. He described summer staff plans (Jonas to start May 4), new signage that will be posted at parking lots and trail restrictions, and planned trail repairs to address erosion after heavy rains.

Wesley (maintenance) briefed the committee about restarting in‑house mowing now that the maintenance crew is fully staffed and reported the county's existing mowing contract is about $9,600 per year. He said two large zero‑turn mowers are operational and the crew would need only a push mower, trimmer and blower to resume grounds mowing internally. Committee members asked Wesley to prepare a follow‑up presentation with time estimates and cost comparisons; questions about liability and prior worker's‑comp claims were raised and the committee asked staff to factor those risks into a cost comparison.

No formal action was taken; staff will return with a more detailed proposal and cost/time analysis.