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Volunteer garden group urges pollinator and wetland gardens at county park; board to study grant options
Summary
Ronda Heberly, president of the Brookfield Garden Club and a park volunteer, urged the park board to install pollinator and low-maintenance native plant gardens at the county park and said she would seek grant funding; the board agreed to study the proposal.
Ronda Heberly, who identified herself as a park board member and president of the Brookfield Garden Club, asked the Franklin County park board to consider expanding volunteer plantings into the county park, including pollinator and wetland-type gardens.
"I sit as the president of the local garden club," Heberly said, describing existing volunteer work at Town Park and Main Street and proposing similar plantings at the county park. She suggested native, low‑water species—black‑eyed Susans, coneflowers and milkweed—that could establish over several years with relatively low ongoing maintenance.
Board members asked staff and volunteers to study grant funding options. A staff member and other members said they would explore grants that could pay for plants and, if possible, labor; any proposal would return to the board for final approval. Members discussed potential sites that could reduce mowing burdens (for example, steeper ridges) and noted some plantings might take up to three years to fully establish.
The board did not take formal action on the proposal; members agreed to review the map shown by Nichols and to consider whether a private park or trail project should receive a letter of support or oversight from the park board. The item was slated for further study and possible grant application.
