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EAST PALESTINE -- Michael Baker International, the architecture firm contracted by Norfolk Southern to complete the proposed $25 million upgrades to the East Palestine City Park, provided village council and residents with an update on the project during a special council meeting on Monday with hopes of taking the next step in the process.
However, the greenlight to proceed was postponed until more feedback from the community can be gathered after residents in attendance and members of the park board voiced concern about a lack of community involvement in coming up with ideas to implement into the conceptual plans. Residents will now be given another opportunity to provide input during a special East Palestine Park Board slated for Dec. 6 at 6 p.m.
Park Board president Amanda Smith called the project "a wonderful thing" but also raised concerns that no member of the board was consulted by Michael Baker International or Norfolk Southern when considering what renovations would be included in the plans.
"You have a park board and the park board should have been involved in the process," Smith said.
While a special meeting/forum was held in June to hear feedback and ideas from the residents, residents on Monday said that since that meeting, dialogue with the public stopped. Representatives from Michael Baker International said the plans were conceptual, not final, and insisted public feedback was not only considered but heavily influenced those plans. The firm said that the East Palestine Village Council has been included in talks along the way and were instrumental in shaping the plans presented on Monday.
That assertion was contradicted by council members who said there were no such talks and had no prior knowledge of the designs or details.
"We haven't had any private conversations, at least I have not been a part of any private conversations" Councilman Brandon Runnion said. "Everything has been public so far. The plans were laid out at the first meeting and we haven't really talked about it since then. We are getting all this information at the same time."
Fellow Council member Jessica Rocco mirrored Runnion's sentiments.
That prompted Smith to ask where exactly the community involvement came from if council has not discussed the park plans with anybody since June. Other residents at the meeting repeated that question with one calling for better communication and more transparency from the village leaders on the park plans.
"Then let's have another public meeting," East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway fired back after the resident expressed his concerns. "We have to because if you are included in it, you are going to be upset and if you aren't included in it, you're going to be upset so let's have a public meeting and then we can all get a room and scream and nothing gets accomplished."
Conaway also maintained that he had no prior knowledge of the details presented on Monday.
"The last time I saw a design of anything was the design six months ago in that meeting when you all saw it," Conaway said. "And half of the community saw that design before anybody on council or the mayor saw it so if you want to start throwing rocks, we will, but we're all frustrated just like you. We are all seeing this, too. We are trying to work together. So let's have an open public forum where everybody can put their ideas in. I mean we can't bring it to the vote, that's not how it works. You elected these six people and me for a reason."
Traci Spratt, the village's former finance director and who served as interim city manager until last month when both positions were filled, attempted to clarify the confusion. She stated that she had been in contact with the railroad, providing Norfolk Southern with the feedback she had received from the residents.
"Anybody that came to me, as my term as interim manager, after that first public forum, I would forward everything on Norfolk Southern," she said. "And this is what they came back with. The first time I saw this was today on my desk. I asked Norfolk Southern to not give it out to anyone else in the community like it was before because it was leaked out. There were people who saw it before me."
Pratt added that time was of the essence and the project needs to move forward sooner than later.
"The more we delay the more it's going to push this timetable back where we can maybe lose out on something in that timeframe," she said.
Conaway agreed that the project needs to move forward but also conceded that it was clear more public input was needed before the village could do so.
"We have to work as a community and I hope that nobody took my comments earlier as spiteful. This is our park. It's not Norfolk Southern's. It's not Michael Baker's. It's for the residents of East Palestine," he said. "We can have people submit ideas. We'll give two weeks, but we do have to get these plans going on. But yes, you should have a voice."
Conaway asked residents with suggestions or ideas who are unable to attend the special meeting set by the park board, to submit ideas to Council Clerk Misti Martin at the Municipal Building or email them to m.martin@eastpalestine-oh.gov. Deadline to do so is Friday December 8 at noon.
Monday's presentation of the up-to-date plans did reflect changes influenced by public comments made during the forum in June. The original plans swapped the entrance and exits of the park. In the new plans, the park entrance and exit are left as they currently are with the direction of the traffic pattern around the park's center loop reversing. The location of the proposed amphitheater was also moved from the southern tip of the park's loop to the middle facing the brick pavilion.
Some suggestions from June's meeting were not implemented into the current plans. Residents suggested a roof on the amphitheater, the addition of mountain bike trails and the resurrection and renovation of the original little league field that was built in the 1950s. None of those suggestions made into the latest plans.
Aside from the up-to-date conceptual plans, a phased timeline to complete the project was also included in Monday's presentation. The phased timeline is meant "to minimize disruption in use of the park during construction" with eight construction phases proposed. Phase 1 is set to begin the second quarter of 2024 with Phase 8 to be completed in the third quarter of 2027.
Phase 1 encompasses upgrades to the dog park with lighting and parking updates, relocating the tennis and basketball courts as well as formatting for additional parking and leveling and grading the playing field in the center loop with a projected completion date of July 2024.
The biggest project, the construction of a brand new aquatic center and pool house, is Phase 3. It is set to begin in the third quarter of next year and be completed by the third quarter of 2025. Phase 6, an overhaul of the brick pavilion, is slated to begin late next year and finish up mid-2025.
Other major renovations included in the current plans are new playground areas, an updated baseball field with new fencing, bleachers and dugouts, pre-engineered restroom facilities, a stormwater pond, a drop-off of area that will not congest the flow of park traffic and additional parking and sidewalks throughout the park.