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Last Updated: Apr 19th, 2010 - 14:09:55 |
“The county parks are all open and ready for campers” was the first news Wayne County Conservation board members heard when they met on April 12. The gates are open, the water is turned on, the season is ready to begin. “We are ready for park visitors to show up and enjoy themselves,” conservation director Scott Doescher said.
Shortly after the Wayne County conservation board called their monthly meeting to order, they met with South Central Iowa Community Action Program representative Amy Sinclair to hear they have been selected to receive a gift.
This is made possible from money SCICAP received from the federal ARRA stimulus program. The money is designated to help qualifying young people ages 16-21 find a summer job.
Sinclair told the board there are enough funds to provide minimum wages for two 40 hour per week positions which can be applied for through the Leon SCICAP office. Applications are being taken now for the jobs, which will start June 1.
Board members showed appreciation of the gift and discussed several work options and projects the new employees could be involved with.
Sinclair also requested the board be willing to meet one hour earlier than their usual meeting time to discuss the REAP program. She said it would be beneficial for the county and for the conservation if one of the members would sit on the REAP board. There is a time line for grant applications to be received. The conservation board agreed to the time change for their May meeting.
A packet was handed to board members covering the principal duties and responsibilities of camp hosts volunteering for the summer positions. Doescher told the board he had sent copies to those citizens showing an interest in performing the host duties for the various county parks with the exception of the Humeston Park.
Board member Belinda Adkins had said she would bring names of possible hosts from the Humeston park area to the April meeting, and since she was absent, Doescher didn’t know who to send the information packet to.
The board asked Doescher what conservation employees were responsible for the parks on the weekends and was told Doescher himself is on call on because naturalist Jodi Ahrenkiel and park laborer Kenny Banks were on a strict 40 hour work week and not allowed to draw overtime. When Doescher has to be away from the parks, he informs both the Wayne County Sheriff’s department and the camp hosts at each park. He said the county deputies routinely make drive-throughs of the parks when he is gone.
Board member Larry Martley described a bird sanctuary program held in Ringgold and three surrounding counties, using both public and private lands. He asked if there was enough interest to put discussion of the program and the possibility of starting a similar program in Wayne County on the conservation board agenda for the May meeting. The topic will be added.
Old equipment and items no longer of use have been hauled to Demry Auction in Centerville for an April 24 auction in order to increase revenue for the parks. Everything from mowers and tractors no longer used, to even including the old boat dock, which is slated for replacement this year, will be sold. The board also discussed keeping the best set of elk antlers that conservation has collected and placing the rest of the sheds at an annual auction held in the state later this year.
Doescher has talked with area council members about sharing park duties with the county’s cities. Corydon council members want to know more of what conservation is expecting of the city, Humeston members hadn’t been contacted yet, Lineville residents are very willing to help keep their park maintained and are even planning a fundraising event with proceeds going to something specific for the park, and when Doescher contacted Seymour mayor, Caleb Housh about the possibility of sharing park duties with conservation, he said Housh’s response was, “NO, we are not going to do so. We will shut the park down before we will be responsible for any upkeep on it.”
The Corydon Lions Club has again offered to help with park projects. They would like to have a specific task to do. Doescher told board members there is work to be done on the north shelter house, especially carpenter work if any of the Lions members want to work on it, and then added, “One of the biggest helps to the Corydon park would be if they would set up a ‘watch patrol’ and keep an eye open for destructive behavior in the park. We have losses each year because of vandalism and extra sets of eyes would be invaluable right now.”
Rathbun Rural Water Association was contacted to see why there were two meters at the Humeston park. The board wanted to know why they were paying two separate minimum payments each month. At the time of the meeting RRWA had not returned the call Doescher had made to them. He said he would call again and county supervisor Duffy Kester, who was present at the meeting, said he would personally call RRWA employee Jim Young and see if he could get answers.
County supervisor Jerry O’Dell was present to answer questions about FEMA and what the update was concerning the repayment of money loaned to them under the previous conservation board and director. O’Dell said he had “finally” made contact with county attorney Alan Wilson and was informed Wilson had decided to turn the entire matter over to the state Attorney General.
O’Dell said he had been trying to talk to Wilson for over a month and was unhappy he never received a return call or visit from Wilson in that time. “We have tried repeatedly to get the county attorney to act on the issue and we have received nothing, not a thing. We need a new county attorney, and you can quote me on that,” O’Dell said.
“Along those same lines,” said Kester, “we supervisors are asking the conservation board to submit a copy of the director’s job duties and requirements to us so we have it on record.”
O’Dell backed Kester up by saying, “We are ‘insisting’ we receive a copy this time. The request was made to the last board and was never received. They never bothered to send it!”
The conservation board scheduled a park tour for May 8. They plan to spend the day visiting all lands under their management in order to gain a better understanding of what challenges they face.
Camping fees will remain the same for now. The board agreed that with the economy the way it is most people do not have a lot of excess money. Members didn’t want to make it more difficult than necessary for people to enjoy the county parks this year.
There was discussion about attempting to update maps with better directions to the county parks. Some out-of-area park users are having trouble finding their way to the different locations.
Discussion was also held on ways to make the wetlands more profitable. Suggestions included leasing or cash renting some of the acres to area farmers, while a more viable option would be to find more ways to promote hunting and fishing in the area. One member suggested renting duck or geese blinds and deer stands. Another possibility centered on finding a way to make accommodation available to hunters and campers visiting the wetlands. The board decided they would discuss the topic more when they made their May visit to the area.
After approving payment for the bills the board motioned to adjourn.
© Copyright 2005 Corydon Times
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