By JONATHAN SNYDER
Harrison Township and Bluffton’s Parks Department signed an Interlocal agreement to help support parks in the Harrison Township area, the Bluffton Park Board announced Thursday.
Parks Department Superintendent Brandy Fiechter stated that the agreement will allow the township trustees to use their funds to support park initiatives, adding that their funds can be used for grant opportunities as local matches. The township and Common Council both signed the agreement before arriving at the park board’s desk. The township is not required to give any money to the agreement, but if the township hears a cause they are interested in they can choose to donate any amount they want.
“It’s a joint mutual effort to benefit all the parks in the Harrison Township area,” Fiechter said. “This is just another avenue where we can get funding and work cooperatively together to make Bluffton a better place.”
Additionally, the board chose to raise the pavilion rental price for Lancaster Park to $95 for rentals lasting a maximum of four hours and $105 for rentals lasting four hours or more. The original price for rentals was $60 and $70 respectively for rentals. This decision means that Lancaster Park’s pavilion is the same price as Roush Park’s pavilion, with the board citing that they wanted Lancaster’s prices to be similar to other parks.
Also, three donations were accepted by the park. $1,460 was donated to Rock Steady Boxing over the past month and six different picnic tables were donated by Lowe’s. Rayne Smith and the Heritage girls will build a shade canopy at the canine commons. Fiechter announced that Smith is calculating how much the canopy will cost and will go after grants and fundraise for the canopy.
“It’s something that we’ve wanted for a long time because the trees take a long time to grow,” Fiechter said. “If we can get something put out there, then we can have some shade for the dogs.”
Fiechter also announced that they submitted grant requests to Health First Indiana for fitness programs and to the Wells County Foundation for funding a potential new pool. Pavilion rentals are expected to exceed last year’s totals, with 148 rentals to date and 25 on the books over the next three months. Fiechter also announced that 424 total people used pickleball courts over the summer, with the pickleball club having 50 members. Furthermore, the parks will begin to take steps to “winterize” restrooms, as temperatures are expected to drop into the low 30’s next week.
jonathan@news-banner.com
