Wrangell’s Parks and Recreation Board continued to reexamine the fee structure for Park’s facilities at their April 1 meeting.
A previous draft schedule was
rejected by the Borough Assembly
in January. Park Board members
will meet April 29 for a workshop to discuss future rates for pool and facilities usage.
“People are curious to see how we’re going to move forward,” Parks director Kate Thomas said. “And I want to be able to give them that answer.”
At its January meeting, the Assembly told previous Parks director Amber Al-Haddad planned rate increases would be too high for many community members while at the same time not making much more than a dent toward covering operating costs.
“What’s the margin we’re trying to close?” Cindy Martin asked fellow board members.
“We don’t really have a specific direction on what the goal is,” board chair Bob Lippert responded.
“What (the Assembly) really wanted to see was usage to go up,” said Michael Brown. He suggested they engage the community to determine what rates would be most palatable. With his
background in grant writing, Brown also volunteered to help search out other funding possibilities for programs as well.
Grant scouting, fees and a new mission statement will remain on the board’s agenda for the upcoming May 6 meeting. Board members will try to have a schedule and budget prepared before the board goes into its summer hiatus, and they’re working toward setting a concrete policy for the fee assistance program.
Board members also decided to abandon their idea for setting up wireless service at the gym and pool, which they first explored at last month’s meeting as a way to allow people to stream music while they work out.
“It seems like it can open up a lot of problems for the department,” Lippert reasoned. Board members seemed to agree that monitoring internet usage and keeping costs down for the data plan would be impractical.
“It gets complicated,” said Brown. He felt patrons should bring their own music playing devices instead.
Emergency maintenance work on the public pool is also drawing to a close.
“We’re just waiting for the drain grates to come in,” said Thomas. After those get installed and with some minor preparations, she expects the pool should be filled and ready to jump into sometime next week.
Once the pool is ready to use again, Martin expressed her hope the Parks Department would improve its water safety program. She said swimming and water safety were important skill sets for a maritime community, and Wrangell would lack a pool of skilled lifeguards without certified instructors to train them.
At the moment, only one department employee is certified to provide water safety instructor training.
Thomas responded she has three of the prerequisite certifications and is working on acquiring the rest so she can also teach water safety.
Martin also recommended working more closely with the public schools’ physical education program to build swimming skills. At the moment students at Stikine Elementary School get one week of lessons per class.
“After that there’s quite a gap,” Martin said.
“We’re slowly but surely moving in that direction,” Thomas told her.
New signage is also being prepared to show visitors the way to Mount Dewey. Some $375 has been set aside for creating 14 vinyl signs, which will be created by shop students at Wrangell High School.
Thomas also announced Wrangell Island Tree Service has offered to adopt the trail and maintain it throughout the year.
“We’re just finalizing the agreement,” Thomas said.
Reader Comments(0)