Restroom upgrades, ADA-compliant playground equipment, and the renovation of the swinging bridge are all on the Winamac Park Board’s radar for the coming years. But declining tax revenues have board members looking at some creative funding solutions.
The park board met last week to begin working on its 2018 budget. Clerk-Treasurer Melanie Berger expects Winamac to see a half-a-percent decrease in local income tax money next year, while future declines in street funding may eventually strain the town’s budget.
She told park board members that it’s important for them to keep their budget balanced. “What comes in in revenue goes out in expenses. That’s your balanced budget,” she explained. “It’s not eating into your reserve, which is what the pool did for years and years and years. Well, they never built that pool reserve up, to keep it up and going so that we would always have a pool. They didn’t do that. There is a way to do that, which we can.”
There are a few projects the park board would like to start working on, such as the expansion of the main restroom facilities in the Town Park. To cover the cost of the work, board members discussed spending money out of the Park Gift Fund.
Berger also suggested that the town look into using Patronicity, a “crowdgranting” platform that lets communities accept donations projects. If the fundraising goal is met within a specific amount of time, it’s eligible for a matching grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. The park board plans to ask its advisory council to look into the grant opportunity and help with potential fundraising efforts.
Another candidate for “crowdgranting” funds is the Town Park’s swinging bridge, as its centennial approaches. Board member Brad Zellers said the structure needs a little care. “It needs to be painted,” he said. “Somebody mentioned putting lights on it, so that’s something you could add to it.”
One thing the park board will likely keep in next year’s budget is funding for tree removal. While several dead ash trees have been cut down in the past year or so, a few still remain. Board members asked Park Manager Dave DeLorenzo to come up with a list of how many.
The park board is also interested in adding ADA-compliant playground equipment, but DeLorenzo said more research would need to be done to figure out exactly what that would entail. “I mean, you can’t just set something that’s ADA in the middle of that pea gravel and say, ‘Yeah, we have an ADA thing right here.’ I don’t think so,” he said. “You’re going to be building sidewalks. It’s going to entail a lot.” While improving playground accessibility is a goal of the park board’s, it’s not considered an urgent need.
Board members plan to continue thinking about their 2018 budget and plan to meet again on Monday, June 19 to finalize plans.
