Norfolk Southern and the design firm Michael International presented East Palestine council images of proposed plans to renovate the city park during Monday’s village council meeting. (Submitted)

EAST PALESTINE — Norfolk Southern and the design firm Michael International unveiled tentative plans to completely revamp the city park during Monday’s village council meeting. The slideshow presented to council included artist renderings of what the park will look like if the project moves forward and focused on revenue-generating ideas while protecting the history and longtime aesthetics of the park.

The plans were met with overwhelming enthusiasm.

“This is a long process and it’s going to take a lot to get cleaned up, but after what we saw tonight, I believe this village is going to be better than it was before the derailment,” East Palestine mayor Trent Conaway said. “We weren’t in the greatest shape on Feb. 2. Yes, this was a devastating disaster but it seems like they (Norfolk Southern) are trying to make it right and I just ask for everyone’s patience through this process.”

The park’s makeover would be extensive as several improvements, revisions and additions were proposed to make the park more accessible and family friendly. Plans include the following:

— Completely replacing the existing swimming pool and pool building with a larger low-entry pool and bigger bathhouse and relocating both.

— Changing the current traffic pattern by switching the entrance and exit. The change would accommodate more parking areas and a centrally located drop-off area.

— Adding additional parking near the baseball field and the brick pavilion.

— Renovating the brick pavilion. The renovations would include the addition of a large deck and large glass garage-like doors that could retract to blend the indoor and outdoor spaces as well as a handicap-accessible bathroom that could be accessed from inside the building and installing a sidewalk. The pavilion would also be winterized so the space could be utilized year-long.

— Renovating the existing playgrounds areas and adding another tactical-inspired play space that would connect all three.

— Leveling the soccer field and renovating the softball and baseball dugouts as well as installing new fencing.

— Connecting the walking trail to other areas of the park and installing bridges over waterways on the trail.

— Installing a marked walking path measuring distance that would circle the park.

— Constructing an amphitheater at the southern tip of the park.

— Replacing and rebuilding all and an amphitheater all bathrooms with handicap accessible facilities.

— Adding three pavilions around the park’s pond.

Council is anxious to move forward with the first phase of the project, but wants to hear from the community first. A public meeting to discuss the plans has been scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.

While some voiced concerns with certain details of the plans and councilman Mark Walker suggested letting the citizens decide by putting the issue on the ballot, the majority of residents in attendance agreed the village would be foolish not to take advantage of the opportunity to overhaul the park.

“As a citizen, I say ‘come on, this is our opportunity,’ so let’s go and I’m speaking as a resident and not as the water superintendent,” Scott Wolfe said. “We need to make this happen.”

Resident Matt Warner agreed, adding that progress requires change and asked the community to see the potential of the park plans and what it could mean to the village and its future.

“Change is hard, especially when you really want what you already have, but those things just might work anymore,” he said. “If we can figure out how to make something good like this be successful for our village, we will stand out, we will make progress and we will be better because of it. So we need to figure out how to make this happen instead of how not to make it happen.”

In other matters, council announced timeframes for both the park bridge and waterline-replacement projects . The park bridge is expected to be closed from July 24 to on or about Aug. 23 with the project completed around Nov. 30. The waterline project will begin tentatively in September.

Traci Pratt, finance director and interim city manager, also reported to council that the current fire levy expires 2023. She suggested a five-year renewal that would provide the village $85,000 annually.

In derailment news, council member Jessica Rocco encouraged residents to take part in Erin Haynes’ online health tracking survey. Haynes, a University of Kentucky College of Public Health environmental scientist, hopes to learn more about the health symptoms and exposures residents face. The East Palestine Train Derailment Health Tracking Study survey is open to anyone aged 18 or older in Columbiana, Mahoning, Stark, Carroll and Jefferson counties in Ohio and residents of Beaver and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania and Hancock County in West Virginia. The survey can be accessed at cph.uky.edu/research/cares under the research menu.