
Trees will be removed in the Winamac Town Park this fall. On Thursday, the park board approved a $4,200 quote from Practical Tree Service to remove a total of 15 trees. It was the lowest of a wide range of cost estimates the board had received.
The Winamac Park Board is still waiting to find out whether it’s been awarded grant funding for upgrades to the Town Park. The park board had applied for a Land and Water Conservation Fund matching grant to help pay for the replacement of the park’s main restrooms and get new equipment for the toddler playground.
A “disconnection” between the Park Board and the school corporation was brought to the attention of the Winamac Town Council last week.
Park Board President Courtney Poor came before the council last Monday to discuss a number of matters related to the park. One item he brought up was a perceived lack of labor sharing cooperation from school officials to assist with projects, specifically ones related to the concession stand area and the ball diamonds. Continue reading
Winamac Park Board President Courtney Poor came before the town council during their most recent meeting to inform them about a work session held by the Park Board.
Poor said the session was attended by several representatives of the various entities that utilize the parks’ facilities. He said one of the goals of the Park Board is to encourage those individuals who utilize the park to participate in focused clean-up days. He said the people who attended the work session had some valuable input related to that initiative. Continue reading
The Winamac Park Board is looking to remove some more trees by the end of the year. During last week’s meeting, board member Jon Chapman noted that there’s still money available in this year’s tree removal budget, and he felt the park board should make the most of it. “I think it’s really important that we get someone that’s going to be there and get the work done before December 31,” he said, “not just who somebody on the town board says, ‘Use them,’ because I want it done before the end of the year, so we don’t lose the money.”
The Winamac Park Board is asking for a slight increase in its Park budget. Clerk-Treasurer Melanie Berger reviewed the 2019 budget proposal during last week’s board meeting. She explained that it’s about $900 larger than this year’s budget. Berger said the park board has been doing a good job of staying within its budget, and if spending and revenue projections hold true, the park board can expect to increase its cash reserves by almost $15,000 by the end of 2019.
Winamac’s parks are a step closer to getting some new drinking fountains. Park board members previously agreed to accept the donation of two decorative drinking fountains for the Town Park. An ADA-compliant drinking fountain is set to be placed along the trail, in the area of the basketball courts. The other fountain would replace the one that currently stands between the swinging bridge and the restrooms. Board members had also agreed to share the cost of a drinking fountain to be placed in Rinehart Park.

The fencing surrounding some of the Winamac Town Park’s athletic fields may soon be getting an upgrade. “I love what they’ve done to the girls’ softball field, with what Francesville Drain Tile did on the top of that fence,” Park Board President Courtney Poor said during last week’s meeting. “I would like to try and I will take this upon myself as a project, to get in touch with some of the folks over there and see how much it would cost us to do the little league diamond and the other girls’ softball diamond in the same manner.”

The Winamac Park Board is looking to clarify who’s responsible for what, when it comes to the maintenance of the Town Park. Board member Jon Chapman raised the issue during Thursday’s meeting, noting that there are a lot of moving parts, when it comes to running the park, “Some of which are handled by Power from the Past, some of which are handled by [Park Manager] Dave [DeLorenzo], some of which are handled by Dave with help from the town, some of which are handled by other parties. Dave asked from the time we became a board for kind of a list of what the priority things are, and we really haven’t ever done that,” Chapman said.

The Winamac Park Board will discuss a maintenance schedule when it meets tonight. Other than the regular report from Park Manager Dave DeLorenzo, no other specific items are listed on the advance agenda.

During a Winamac Park Board meeting in June, Park Manager Dave DeLorenzo informed board members about a tree that fell during a storm which a broke nearby teeter-totter in the process.
When members met this month, DeLorenzo suggested another placement possibility rather than putting a new piece of equipment back in the same area. Continue reading
The placement of the potential splash pad for the Winamac Town Park was discussed when park board members met last Thursday.
Park Manager Dave DeLorenzo mentioned that he was recently thinking about the fact that as it stands, the park has a peaceful kind of environment that is ideal for walking and sitting. He asked board members if they had considered possible disruptions when they proposed installing the splash pad in the center of the park. Continue reading
Winamac Park Board Secretary Kim Burke informed Park Board members about an upcoming Federal Order of Police (F.O.P) event where a donation for the toddler playground will be presented. Continue reading
A quote for the remainder of the work needed at the tennis and pickleball courts was considered by Winamac Park Board members Thursday night.
Park Board President Courtney Poor informed the other board members about the quote submitted by Leslie Coatings, Inc. “It’s $7,000 it says to pretty extensively clean then restripe here.” Continue reading

Winamac Park Board members considered a request for a potential art project at the park when they met on Thursday.
Park Board member Brad Zellers said that a woman came into the Town Manager’s office, asking if a group of students would be permitted to paint the animal spring-riders at the park.
The board members immediately mentioned that those rides will be taken out when the park improvements are tackled in the future. Continue reading