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Monday, 28 December 2009 |
 Photo provided: Jim Heinrich, Kevin Haver, Frank Murray, Nancy Stiener and Dave Stilwell pose at Johnny Appleseed Park. By KATIE YANTIS
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — The Heritage Trails Park District Commissioners recently met for its end-of-the-year meeting.
The group discussed what the district accomplished in 2009 and plans for the future. Director Allison Brady said the meeting went well and a plan has been constructed to move forward with expanding the Heritage Trails Park District.
“The park district has been in existence for 14 years, but this is kind of a new beginning,” Brady said. “What we did at the meeting was review the year.”
Brady said she and the three board members, Dave Stilwell, Frank Murray and Jim Heinrich, were in attendance at the meeting. Following the reappointment of Stilwell as president, Brady said the review of the year began.
She pointed out the extensive work on the towpath that was completed in 2009, using more than 300 dump loads of fill.
“We had a grant and the towpath trail needed a lot of work and manpower,” Brady said. “It was a big project.”
The towpath area that was revamped included expanding it to 10 feet wide through a 2 mile span. The area begins at the Noble Township Trustee House and heads north.
“Getting it fixed was important for the canal and the trail,” Brady said. “The river was starting to encroach on the path and narrowed it to about 2 feet.”
During 2009, the park district also helped purchase a bulldozer in cooperation with the Ohio Division of Natural Resources (ODNR) to use on the towpath.
On June 6, the park district held the ribbon cutting for the renovated trail, also combining an Auglaize Outdoor Expo.
The park district also held a canoe class, also in partnership with ODNR at 40 Acre Pond and had a presence at the SummerFest and Auglaize County Fair. Brady said the district also partnered with Kiwanis and Dannon Yogurt to have a part in the annual Walk with Nature event.
Brady said following the review of 2009, the commissioners dove into looking at the future and planning for the park district to expand to further serve the residents of all of Auglaize County.
“Internally we are at the beginning of visioning how the park district will look and what the people of Auglaize County want as far as parks go,” Brady said. “We took ourselves on field trips.”
She said the field trips included parks with similar demographics as Auglaize County and some that are different. Board members made stops at parks such as Darke County parks, Auglaize River East, High Point Area, Goshen Township Wet Prairie, the quarries and Pusheta Creek among others.
An additional stop included Johnny Appleseed — Allen County Parks.
“The idea was to see a sampling of their parks and how they grew from the beginning to this mature point they have reached today,” Brady said.
She said the group also traveled around Auglaize County to survey what the county already offers in terms of natural resources.
“We are at the beginning, now we are not just looking at what others are doing but now we are looking at what is possible and what do people want,” Brady said. “This year we are going to be working on doing some of that. This idea of looking at the county we live in and seeing the potential.”
Brady said, beginning in January, the group will start the process of mapping out areas of possibilities for development of the park district.
“We are going to do all we can to involve the citizens of Auglaize County in a planning process,” Brady said. “At this point I want to hear the hopes of the residents.” |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 11 June 2010 )
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