The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Improved restrooms, pickleball on the table
Officials have applied for grant money to expand recreational opportunities and make comfort easier.
Officials in Madison Township have applied for grant money to expand recreational opportunities at one park and make comfort easier at another.
At their April 11 meeting, township trustees voted on two separate resolutions — one to apply for an Ohio Natureworks grant and another for a Community Development Block Grant, township records reflect.
The first measure asks to approve township administrator Timothy Brown to apply for a Natureworks grant to support the construction of pickelball courts at Tuttle Park, 5825 Northway Drive. The second would allow Brown to apply for a CDBG package to upgrade the rest rooms at Bill Stanton Community Park to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act .
These applications come during a time when money is tight in Madison Township and funding for park improvements is tough to come by.
In an interview not quite a year ago, township trustee Ken Gauntner said the township administration’s budget doesn’t leave much room for expansion or improvement at Stanton Park.
“We are operating the park at the bare minimum, as we don’t have enough revenue to maintain it in a manner we would like, “Gauntner said.
During that interview, Gauntner said the township was grappling with what to do with Stanton Park.
He said that, although the township does rent the Banquet Hall on the property for special events, the little revenue it does bring isn’t a significant source of funding.
“The Banquet Hall is not generating enough revenue to even cover our annual maintenance costs,” he said, adding that its need for a “face lift and upgrading” compounds the issue. “Consequently, many people, after they view it, do not want to rent it.”
By that time, Lake Metroparks, which had at one point been approached about buying and operating it, decided it was too costly to run.
“If the Metroparks felt it would be too expensive to operate and maintain, you can understand our dilemma,” Gauntner said in June.