As the Town of Winamac prepares to start appointing members to its new park board, town officials have been doing some research on how the board might work. Last week, representatives from Winamac visited Monticello to learn about their park board.
Winamac Town Manager Brad Zellers says he’ll have a full update at the next town council meeting, “We’ll talk about Monticello’s park board, how they operate things. It’s pretty exciting, actually.” Winamac established its own park board last month, with the goal of opening up new opportunities for grant funding.
Before the board can start operating, though, the town still has a few decisions to make. During a special town council meeting Thursday, the issue of residency requirements for potential park board members was again discussed. Town Attorney Justin Schramm believes that anyone who pays taxes to the Town of Winamac or possibly anyone who has Winamac utilities could be considered a resident of Winamac’s park district, not just those who live within the town limits. However, Schramm suggested that council members consider limiting park board appointments to residents of Monroe Township.
The number of seats of the new park board has also been called into question since it was formally established. The town council had decided to create a four-member board, which allows the council to make all the appointments. Some council members have said they would prefer an odd number of park board members, but any additional members would have to be appointed by the Eastern Pulaski School Board or the Pulaski County Public Library Board, according to state statute.
Right now, Zellers has a list of individuals interested in serving on the park board. As it stands, the town council would appoint two Republicans and two Democrats. The council plans to hold a work session to discuss board appointments, but no specific date was set during Thursday’s meeting.
