Winamac Park Board members have decided not to seek compensation for their service.
Board members have gone without payment since the board began meeting in June. During last week’s meeting, board member Chris Schramm said he was in favor of keeping it that way. “None of us got on here – the board – to be compensated for it,” he said. “You know, I did it because I enjoy the park like all you other guys, and I know we’re on a tight budget.”
Board members voted to remove member compensation from the park board’s 2017 budget before approving it. The budget now goes to the town council for its approval.
Additionally, the park board’s looking into establishing its own Rainy Day Fund. Winamac Town Attorney Justin Schramm says it will make it easier for the park board to receive grant funding in the future. “So at the last meeting, I think the question was presented where if we were faced with a situation where we received a grant, where we could get those matching funds, whether it’s an 80-20 match, a 90-10 match,” he said. “So the question was posed whether or not we could establish a Rainy Day Fund for that purpose, and my research is the simple answer is yes, we can do that. We have to take care when we’re drafting this Rainy Day Ordinance that would create the Rainy Day Fund that we specify what the purpose of that Rainy Day Fund is, where we’re going to receive funding for the Rainy Day Fund.”
Clerk-Treasurer Melanie Berger explained how a Rainy Day Fund would work. “The town receives x amount of dollars for the park,” she said. “What you would do is it would be a maximum of 10 percent of your budget, you could move into Rainy Day. So if you have a $100,000 budget, you can take 10 percent of that if you’ve not used it in that year and move it into Rainy Day.”
Board members voted to allow the town attorney to proceed with drafting a resolution establishing a Rainy Day Fund for parks and recreation.
