[0:05] Mhm. All right, I called a meeting of the Hartford City Parks Board. For
[0:12] October 13, 2026, roll call, Tyler Hunt.
[0:19] Sam Dick here. Jessica Tabor here. Diana Weller here. OK.
[0:28] And the approval of the minutes from August 11th, 2026.
[0:35] It was kind of long. It was a long meeting.
[0:42] Uh, I make a motion to accept the minutes as presented. All right. So they are really
[0:50] designed.
[0:55] Second, sorry. I'm distracted. Thank you.
[1:00] All right. Presentation of claims. You need to vote.
[1:05] Although, yeah.
[1:16] So you You had a motion a second and then we vote. OK, vote, say yay,
[1:24] yay, yes, nay. All right, here we go. Presentation of claims.
[1:32] All right. This is back from August to October. Um, we have The sum of our claims
[1:40] of 18,886 84 cents.
[1:47] OK.
[1:55] I, I, I, I make a motion to approve the claims.
[2:02] Sorry. Make, yes, 2, 2nd. Sorry. All in
[2:09] favor. All right, all right, there you go, opposed. All right, good job. We're doing
[2:16] great. A plus. Tyler would be plus. OK. Park business. Let's start with a
[2:24] general update. We would, we would like to start that off.
[2:33] Dustin, OK, um, you also have a Dustin's report. Yes, I can do it all together.
[2:41] Um, currently we have just a few more weeks left in the season. Um, we do have Hoover
[2:47] and Sigma shelters continue to be rented for the next few weeks. So we are in the
[2:53] process of, um, winterizing. Uh, the pool. Sigma Phi Gamma
[3:00] concession stand. Um King Waterworks Park. So we are doing
[3:08] um. The closings on those currently and once the um.
[3:17] The events take place at. Um, Hoovering and Sigma will close those for the season
[3:23] also. Um, so we're wrapping all that stuff up. We're trying to get a lot of, we're
[3:29] running out of what I say good weather. So we are hustling as, as much as we can
[3:35] to get some painting that we wanted to, to have completed this year, trying to get
[3:40] it done. Um, really now, not only we racing the clock, but we are shorthanded,
[3:48] don't have the manpower to do a lot of the things that we want to do right now. So,
[3:53] but we are getting a lot of things done. Um I do have a few other. Um,
[4:01] claims to give you for some maintenance items on our mowers. Um, both of the mowers
[4:06] that we purchased last year are approaching about 550 hours apiece on them, and basically
[4:12] a season and a half. So normal maintenance items, um, we've been doing on that.
[4:19] And just some other maintenance on like our John Deere tractor, um. Typical flat
[4:26] tires on trailers, vehicles, things like that. Um, cameras. And let you know
[4:34] that since the cameras have been installed in the parks.
[4:39] Would you say crime or vandalism has ceased to exist? It has been fantastic. Um,
[4:47] knock on the wood. Um, I don't know if they're visible now or after the incident
[4:52] that we had and where it may have gotten around that. When they were caught, there
[4:56] are cameras in our parks now, so we are, we are already ahead of the game with the
[5:03] cameras. So that was long overdue. Um, I kinda wanna circle around to my, to the
[5:10] parks building right now. Um, we do have some building issues still there, um, coming
[5:15] into the winter's months. The roof has not had anything done to it yet. We do still
[5:21] have two leaks in that, in that roof. Um, I did reach out to the builder. They said
[5:26] there was not a warranty on it. Um, it would be an expired. I believe the building's
[5:32] 6 or so years old now. Um, they said that they would come back, take a look at it
[5:38] if it was something that they've done, they would take care of it. Um, it's now been
[5:43] probably 5 or 6 weeks. They've never showed up, never heard from them, so we do need
[5:48] to address that. Um, still waiting for internet at the building. Um, anytime I
[5:56] need on the computer, I have to come up here, so. Um, so that is, and we're supposed
[6:01] to be getting internet down there, correct? Yes, as a matter of fact, I know the
[6:05] mayor's office received something saying that they were on their way like 3 weeks
[6:09] ago and They haven't showed up yet, wasn't that correct? Internet. Wow. Yes,
[6:16] there's been a little miscommunication in their team. OK. Are they doing just the
[6:24] parks building or are they doing the pool as well? I think they're just focused on
[6:29] the park. OK, OK. So. Um, and I know we had talked about,
[6:36] um, pouring a concrete pad exiting the back of the building, um. We actually dug
[6:44] that out months and months ago. And I know the contractor came and looked at it.
[6:52] And It's still dug out. So I'm not sure what we're doing with that. If I need to
[6:57] fill it back in, I can fill it back in. But it just makes it easier for us to be
[7:02] able to pull through the building versus backing out all the time with the trailers
[7:06] and stuff. Um
[7:11] And then just to put in the back here, just put in the back of your head that um.
[7:17] The heat does work. Of course, the heat is only in the storage room and in the office,
[7:22] but the cooling still. is faulty. Um, I know we had a quote and it was $6000
[7:30] or $7000 to have that replaced. And unfortunately that unit was like. A month out
[7:37] of warranty? So yeah. Of course. But we did um use one of our air conditioners,
[7:45] personal air conditioners from home, and we put it in the window, so it did keep
[7:48] the office cool, so that was nice. But um. So we still have that on the, on the back
[7:55] burner also. Um
[8:00] We're still trying to do. King Park as far as the playground knowledge, but with.
[8:08] 1.5 people. It's hard to get done and try to keep up on. All of the maintenance
[8:15] and the mowing and a lot of the projects that we have going on currently, so.
[8:24] For that, like, how much effort would it be to, like, do you need another person
[8:30] to help? Like what does that look like to do the mulch? What do you need for that?
[8:35] Um, really at this point, I mean. I will probably be reaching out to um Sheriff Heflin
[8:43] because he's been great. We have used, utilized the um Inmates a few times this season,
[8:50] which they've been fantastic. I've already had that conversation with him. So we'll
[8:54] get that lined up cause I still wanna get it done yet this year. And um it's gonna
[9:01] be around water department, street department schedule also because it takes their
[9:04] heavy equipment to move those 3000 pound sacks down there. So, we don't have, we
[9:10] don't have the equipment to do that. Does it have to be um Scraped out again since
[9:18] it's been so long. No, it just needs, we need to rope it off, um. Destroy the
[9:25] vegetation that's there, then put the liners down, to which, um, we do not have a,
[9:32] a lot of liner left. I'd have to order some more liner. From the pool project.
[9:49] Anybody have any other questions for me? Um, are we gonna pick a closing date for,
[9:55] for the parks? Do we normally, I can't remember. Well, as soon as the final, um,
[10:01] event takes place in the shelters, they'll be closed. Everything will be closed.
[10:06] So well we need to tell the office like not to like stop do it OK perfect. Do you
[10:13] know what that date was um let me let me take a peek.
[10:23] They should be closed October twenty-sixth permanently for the season because I think
[10:27] we usually try to close before Halloween. Yes, yes, yeah.
[10:35] And I will say this time last year we'd already had some vandalism. I'm assuming
[10:40] Halloween related, but with the cameras in place. Yeah, I've not had that.
[10:50] For the leaky roof in the building, what does, what would be needed for that? I'm
[10:56] not sure. I'm not sure if it's the rubber gaskets. It is a metal roof. But I'm not
[11:00] sure if it's the gaskets that have deteriorated or what it is. Somebody just, I think,
[11:05] needs to get up on that roof and inspect it because one of the leaks is just a small
[11:12] drip into the shop. The other one is near um Near the storage room and when it rains.
[11:20] It pours in there. I mean, it just runs directly into the building. You said the
[11:24] storage room and the other one, where, where else is it? It's on the west side of
[11:28] the building. It's near where I parked the mowers. I just don't want it, we don't.
[11:36] We don't need it to rust, so we should probably take care of that. No, I mean.
[11:42] They definitely need, they definitely need addressed. Have we contacted any other
[11:46] roofing companies? Um, 3 little pigs came out. They did take a look at it. He was
[11:51] going to, he wanted, obviously, he said, if you can get the builder to come back
[11:56] out, take a look at it, and if it costs you no money, you know, perfect. That's the
[12:01] way I saw it also. But he also did say if they do not show up, which they have not,
[12:05] like I said, it's been quite some time now. Um, to give him a call back and he would
[12:09] get up there and see what's going on with it.
[12:14] When was the last time you contacted the builder?
[12:19] Mm Uh I probably talked to them, it was between 4 and 6 weeks ago, and I probably
[12:25] called them back.
[12:29] 3 weeks ago, probably to see when they were coming, and I've never heard from them.
[12:37] And I do believe that the builder. Um No longer lives in Indiana.
[12:45] I believe they have moved out of state, but their son still lives in the state, and
[12:52] they were going to send him down to take a look at it, and he's the one I cannot.
[12:58] I can't get a hold of.
[13:05] Do you think we should just go with 3 little pigs? Or other roofing companies just
[13:10] to get it taken care of.
[13:15] Yeah, we still have storm damage from another roofing company that was to be taken
[13:19] care of in May that is still not complete. So I'm a little frustrated myself with
[13:25] that. Because the job was started, hasn't been completed. It was that 3 little pigs.
[13:33] It was not. OK. I would give Seth a call to have him come out.
[13:40] We can do that.
[13:47] What about the concrete pad? Um, I'm not sure where we're at because we were actually
[13:52] going to piggyback off of, um, a few other departments that were having concrete
[13:57] work. And ours was kind of an afterthought because we have to order so many yards
[14:04] to get this price, and they weren't ordering enough yards. So we're like, well, we
[14:09] could do this also, and which lowered the price. And I haven't heard another thing.
[14:16] Have they got their concrete? I don't believe so. OK. What department is it? Water.
[14:40] And I will add, I was figuring up today, just a little information, figuring up today,
[14:46] um. With our Maverick hybrid truck, we've saved over $1000 in fuel this year. It's
[14:53] not at its current level, which it's been higher, it's been a little lower, but just
[14:59] on average we're actually we're a little over $1000 for the year.
[15:16] Anything else?
[15:23] And I, I do wanna add. This season, I mean, every season. Has its challenges
[15:31] and. We all have goals and where we want things to be and. I mean, The mayor can
[15:39] probably testify to this that. My goals probably sometime or. I wanna do so much,
[15:47] but what we've accomplished this year has been amazing. I mean. I'm very proud of
[15:54] what everyone done this summer, um, what we've accomplished with just going down
[15:59] to a few people over the last several weeks. Um, It's been great. I mean, we have,
[16:05] we have knocked out so many little projects, the, the water department, the, the
[16:11] street department, I mean, wastewater, every department has been so helpful to the
[16:17] parks department and anytime that they need assistance, we're there to help them
[16:20] also.
[16:25] Did you ever receive a list from Mark about what needs Needs what is needed for the
[16:32] pool. No. OK. Oh, and that was, I know we had talked about
[16:40] painting the pool again this fall. There is just, I don't see how it can be done
[16:45] at this point. It's probably gonna have to be in early, early spring. Hopefully,
[16:49] it's a little warmer next spring and not rainy, so we can do it. I do believe that
[16:55] painting the pool in the fall, allowing it to cure for quite some time before we
[17:00] put pool water and stuff on it, definitely helps with longevity of it. But With the
[17:07] limited You know, staff that we have and the sheer volume of properties that
[17:15] we're maintaining, it's not um.
[17:21] It's just not feasible to do that, so. Could that be something we can Use
[17:29] the inmates for as well or we have in the past, um. We did last year and they helped.
[17:38] But
[17:41] I think, you know, winding down to the end of the year, it's also gonna be an item.
[17:48] You know, can the budget support it? Cause it is not cheap to paint that pool.
[18:09] How much did it cost last time? Mm.
[18:14] I don't think I have it.
[18:19] Um, let me guess. I would say in the ballpark of.
[18:36] I have a rough idea. I wanna see if I'm right. What what minutes would they?
[18:44] That would have been last year. What's that? That would have been 2025 when we painted
[18:49] it.
[18:51] And I did speak to Dana about where we sat as far as some of, I mean, there are still
[18:56] supplies that we need and where we sat with um our remaining budget
[19:03] and just from what I was told I don't think we could do that. I don't think we could,
[19:08] yeah.
[19:13] It was a couple 2000 to paint the pool, at least.
[19:21] And I know the kiddie pool this year, I mean. I think we set a record attendance
[19:26] one day of like 357 or 56, um, bathers to the pool.
[19:34] Um, It is very popular. Um, the investment that was put in it several years ago
[19:42] has definitely paid off. It's been a great asset to the community and, you know,
[19:49] talking and mingling with a lot of the people there, the, the parents and so forth,
[19:53] they, I mean, we've got people coming from Red Key, from Portland, from Upland, um,
[20:01] They come every day, they love it. They say it's clean, it's nice, and they really
[20:05] appreciate it. People from Gas City, Gas City has their, they have a pool. I was
[20:08] actually looking at Gas City's pool last week. It's not near as good a shape as ours.
[20:14] Um, so we do have a lot of people that use it. In our trail system, that's another
[20:19] thing that I mean I've been out on the trails all summer long doing stuff and the
[20:25] number of people, and I never realized this, the number of people that actually come
[20:29] and use our trail system from outside of this community is shocking. Um, we get a
[20:34] lot of people from Upland Taylor that come over and use our trail system. Um You
[20:41] know, I think at one time, you know, just a few weeks back, I probably ran into,
[20:45] and I'm not exaggerating all, there were 20, either 26 or 27 people on the trail
[20:50] at one time during the day. It was a nice, beautiful day. There were lots of people
[20:55] on it, a lot of people I didn't even know, and um people use it, so it is utilized
[21:01] a lot more than what people realize. And so is the dog park, wilderness park. It's
[21:08] shocking how many visitors per day come and use that dog park and how many people
[21:13] come down the wilderness park and walk those trails. It, it, I never knew it until
[21:18] I'm down there every day and see the number of people. I've talked to people from
[21:23] Huntington, from Grant County, from, of course, you know, um, Um, Huntington,
[21:30] Grant, um, Delaware County. People come up just to walk our trails. They say it's
[21:37] nice, peaceful, and they feel safe there. So
[21:48] Awesome. That's very good feedback. I like to talk to people when they come. I wanna
[21:54] know where they're from, what they're doing. And why they came, so.
[22:01] I like to hear that they feel safe. Yeah, there was a matter of fact, a lady. Um,
[22:07] I think she was from Huntington. That um said she just loved it and felt safe there,
[22:12] so.
[22:16] And look at all the, the trails that they have up in Huntington, you know, with the
[22:19] state park and so forth, and drove what, 45 minutes down here to, to go through our
[22:24] wilderness park, so.
[22:34] All right. Anything else on your end, sir? I don't think so. Um.
[22:42] I'm sure you'll think of something else. No, I mean, there's, I've got 150 different
[22:47] things I could tell you about, but we'd sit here till 10:30 at night, but. There's
[22:52] a lot going on, I'll put it that way. There is a lot going on in the parks right
[22:56] now. Positive. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, OK, that's what we needed to know.
[23:04] All right, well, Does anybody in the public, well, Mayor, do you have a comment you
[23:11] wanna make? An update on something.
[23:17] Give an update on the uh. The grant for Sigma Phi that. We're um Middle
[23:24] of The um The grant has been presented. We will know in
[23:32] January, give or take of 27. And there again, this is the $1.5 million dollar grant.
[23:40] And it is 1 to 1 match. Jess and I reached out to a handful of situations, still
[23:47] having conversations with people and agencies.
[23:52] Yeah, how are we gonna come up with that much money? Well. We're, we're driving it.
[23:58] Um, we're meeting tomorrow night with county council. To have a discussion. Um
[24:06] This is something that's gonna change the parks. Um You know, and we'll, we've got
[24:12] a, we've got a scale of a map of it, and we're gonna take tomorrow night. So, um,
[24:20] Justin always said, you got to invest in yourselves, you know, as a community, that's
[24:23] what we got to do. So This will change. Like I said, the parks is gonna bring people
[24:30] in, continue to bring people in. Um So tomorrow night at 6, we'll go through. The
[24:38] award's gonna be in January of 27. At that time, we have to have letters of intent,
[24:46] um, or commitment financially to help's gonna support it. Um, with that, so We've
[24:53] got some work to do and we've been working. Um, the city's gonna invest.
[25:00] Yeah Tomorrow night we'll have a discussion with county council, um. We'll do
[25:08] a presentation. So as many board members can be there would be great. Um, And have
[25:14] a discussion, so.
[25:17] This is a DNR grant, federal grant, so. Always opportunity to, uh, you know, it takes
[25:24] time to do so with that. Any questions?
[25:32] Exciting stuff, so we'll put this thing through and um. Start construction in next
[25:39] year, so. Good, good deal. Thank you.
[25:49] Alright, um, public comment.
[25:57] Nothing from the peanut gallery, OK.
[26:02] All right, well.
[26:06] I would entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. Next meeting. Oh, yep, I'll skip
[26:11] over that. Next meeting will be November 10th at 6:00 p.m. Here in the same place.
[26:21] All right. So, anything else?
[26:27] Anything else, Mr. Dustin? I don't think so. If, I mean, if anyone has time and I
[26:34] even invite people from the public, um. Anyone would ever like to go through our
[26:39] park system and, and I'd be more than happy to show everyone what we're working with,
[26:45] what we're doing, what our goals are, and even take them through our park system,
[26:49] cause I'm sure a lot of, um, a lot of people don't know the. Just Like I said earlier,
[26:55] the sheer volume of things that we're we're doing and. It's, it's difficult to see
[27:01] at times because we do have so many parks, and there are so many projects and there
[27:06] are so many things that need attention, but we're knocking them out one by one. I'd
[27:12] be more than happy to share that with anybody.
[27:16] That's awesome. Thank you.
[27:25] Anything else?
[27:29] OK. Uh, I'll make a motion to close me.
[27:39] Yes, yes. Be in a second.