By HOLLY GASKILL
To preserve Bluffton’s natural resources, the Parks Department plans to conduct an environmental study of the Rivergreenway.
This was made possible through a Lake and River Enhancement Grant for $33,600. With it, the Parks Department hopes to learn how to prevent erosion and protect the Rivergreenway’s natural assets.
During its meeting on Thursday, the parks board reviewed two bids for the project — $42,000 from Cardno and $62,900 from Christopher B. Burke Engineering.
Parks Department Superintendent Brandy Fiechter said she also recently met with Dugan Julian, an invasive species specialist, who volunteered to discuss invasive species on the Rivergreenway.
Fiechter said she got a much better assessment of the Rivergreenway’s problems with honeysuckle, which doesn’t root deeply in the banks of the river. Julian told Fiechter that eradicating the invasive species could take three or more years, but would allow more native species to return to those areas and secure the banks. Fiechter also said this would allow much more of the river to be visible.
The park board was also approached by several representatives from the Bluffton Youth League requesting improvements to the baseball diamond at Jefferson Park. Specifically, the group wanted a new scoreboard at the park.
Fiechter told the group she’d gladly work with the group on possible fundraising opportunities, but that an expense of that nature wasn’t feasible in their budget.
Dave Goodwin, a former park board member, expressed frustration with this solution and questioned what their league rental fees went toward. Board member Susan Campbell responded that the department spends more money than the sum of its fees toward the upkeep of its fields.
To this effect, Goodwin stated that the department should have already budgeted money for the upkeep of the fields, so their rental fees would go toward various field needs. He said it seemed like the group was always completing new projects, but not maintaining what they were using.
“Why don’t you care about what you’ve already got before you get more?” Goodwin said.
“We don’t have just diamonds — we have a lot of things we need to maintain,” Campbell said.
Chandler Gerber then asked if there was anything they could do to work together with the board. Fiechter said there were three yearly deadlines for an appropriate grant, and they could work together on the application.
“We appreciate what you guys do and know this is a growing thing in the community,” Fiechter said.
“And we don’t want to have an adversarial relationship with you guys,” board member John Gerber said.
Other updates were:
• $14,000 and counting was raised for Parkinson’s research at the Walk Steady for Rocksteady event.
• Due to increases in gas and repairs, the parks department transferred $3,250 to gas and $7,450 to repairs from other line items.
• The board approved the purchase of a skid steer for $15,000.
• Buckets for Santa donated two benches for Washington Park, Bluffton Elks 796 donated another bench and the Optimist club plans to donate a Buddy Bench to Lancaster Park.
• Walmart awarded the Parks Department $1,000 toward mulch for Lion’s Park.
• A local resident donated a tree to the Rivergreenway in memory of his grandson.
holly@news-banner.com
