Summer parties and picnics at Parkman Township’s Overlook Park have increased demand for the pavilion, causing township trustees to consider charging to reserve the popular structure.
Summer parties and picnics at Parkman Township’s Overlook Park have increased demand for the pavilion, causing township trustees to consider charging to reserve the popular structure.
“The road guys are going up twice a week to dump the garbage. We’re putting in a lot of extra time up there,” said Trustee Lance Portman at the July 16 trustees meeting.
The township-provided Dumpster is often full after just two days of pavilion use, he said.
The park, located on state Route 168 northwest of U.S. Route 422, has recreational facilities. Residents who sign an agreement in advance can reserve the pavilion for free. The document specifies the individual is responsible to make sure trash is placed in the Dumpster and the restrooms are clean when they leave.
The park closes at dusk, but some groups want to party after dark, Trustee Joyce Peters said.
“One group didn’t leave until after 11,” Portman said, adding when they refused the request of a township employee to leave the park, a Geauga County Sheriff’s Office deputy was called to break up the party.
Another time, he was called to enforce the dawn-to-dusk rule, he said.
Peters said people also complain when they can’t set up at the pavilion because it has been reserved by someone else who comes along and asks them to leave.
Signage indicating when the pavilion is reserved might be in order, she said.
“It’s pretty popular,” Peters said, adding the township has covered maintenance, cleaning the restrooms and other costs, but that may have to change.
“We need to think about charging for the use of the pavilion,” Peters said.
Trustee Henry Duchscherer said in a phone interview July 22 the pavilion is reserved on a first-come-first served basis now and trustees have resisted charging a fee because most of those reserving the facility are township residents.
However, upkeep is an increasing burden.
“It’s costing us so much to maintain,” he said.
Not everyone is careful about cleaning the area up when they leave, so township workers spend hours on the task, trying to keep the park neat between parties, he said.
During the summer, the pavilion is sometimes reserved four or five times a week, Duchscherer said.
Trustees may research how other townships are charging for reservations, he said.
“We’ll keep it as low as we can,” he added.
In other business, trustees agreed not to place a fire levy on the Nov. 5 ballot.
“We are basically out of time,” Peters said.
The deadline for submitting paperwork to the Geauga County Board of Elections is Aug. 7 and trustees need to know from the county auditor’s office how many mills to put in a levy resolution, she said.
A levy of about 2 mills would yield the $200,000 the township needs, she said, adding it is a bad idea to rush the process.
“I’d like to have enough time to reach out to the community and let them know we want to do this before we do it,” Peters said. “I don’t want anybody to think we’re trying to pull something over on them. We want them to know the issues. It’s all too quick.”
The levy can wait until next fall, she said.
Trustees voted to allow the road department to change its employee work schedule from five eight-hour days to four 10-hour days per week on a one-month trial basis beginning July 21.
