Parks Commission May Meeting
The Parks Commission met Wednesday morning. After approving the minutes from April, we reviewed park event applications, followed up on some old business, and heard about some new efforts to improve village baseball facilities.
Park Events
Jocelynn Ray would like to host kids yoga in Triangle Park on the third Saturday of the month at 10:00am from May through September. We voted to recommend it to council.
The 34th Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure will bring 1,000 cyclist to Chagrin Falls as a Wednesday morning stop on a 400-mile, week-long bicycle tour of Northeast Ohio. We had a few questions about the timing and logistics of the event that we’re following up on, so we didn’t actually vote on this one.
Stroll Gates Mill submitted an application for an outing to ETalian and Bell Street Park, but I didn’t see anything in it that indicated the need for an event permit. It’s just a group of people visiting a park. Nevertheless, we voted to recommend it to council.
Little Free Library in Whitesburg
There was some more discussion about the Little Free Library being proposed for Whitesburg Nature Preserve. There are some doubts about the usefulness of a library in this location and some concern about setting a precedent for individual-initiated projects in village parks. However consensus seemed to be that there was little risk in letting this one move forward, and it’s at least consistent with the existing Little Free Libraries in River Run and Riverside Parks.
Signage for Ben King Arboretum and River Walk Trail
We’re awaiting designs for the signage from Chagrin Falls Historical Society.
Dogwood Valley Garden Club Donation
The Dogwood Valley Garden Club has generously offered to donate towards the purchase of plants for the terraced beds near the corner of Low and Cleveland Streets. Look for improvements to that area later this spring.
Improvements to Baseball Facilities
Bob Munson and CAA Commissioner of Baseball Chad Tisdale joined us to discuss proposed improvements to the baseball facilities at River Run Park and Founders Field. Bob approached the village with the goal of providing funds to fix up the field at River Run and recognizing the work that his late brother and others involved in CAA did to create that facility thirty years ago.
Coincidentally, village Streets & Service Department Superintendent John Brockway was already planning to replace the rusted backstop fencing, pour concrete pads, and add roofs to the dugouts. The fencing and concrete are already budgeted for and should happen later this year.
Meanwhile – having a son playing baseball at Founders Field right now – I knew that Chad had recently taken over as commissioner and wanted to make sure that he had the opportunity to provide input. Kids move from River Run to Founders for their 11U & 12U seasons, and I want to make sure the place is at least as nice as River Run. The four of us will continue to work together to continue planning for the roofs and other improvements to both fields.
Miscellaneous
Lastly, the Grove Hill Park Commission voted to recommend the name “Grove Hill Park” so – in keeping with the required process – the Parks Commission also voted to recommend to council that the village officially adopt that name.
Finally.