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EAST PALESTINE -- Residents of East Palestine met Wednesday to offer public input before the village moves forward on the $25 million park project to be funded by Norfolk Southern. The special meeting was called by the East Palestine Park Board after members voiced frustration at the last council meeting that they were left out of the process.
Residents shared those sentiments.
Despite heated conversation at the council meeting when setting the special meeting, Wednesday's discussion proved to be both constructive and cordial as the public filled the municipal building to make suggestions on the park renovations.
"This meeting is for your input so we can hear you and we can gather more ideas," East Palestine Councilwoman and Park and Recreation chair Jessica Rocco explained. "Our park is the center of our town, so our community input is the most important aspect of the whole project."
Many of the suggestions focused on the pool -- the most extensive phase of the project. The most recent conceptual plans presented by Michael Baker International, the architecture firm contracted by Norfolk Southern to design the new look of the park, involve replacing the current pool with a larger low-entry pool and constructing a bigger pool house. The new aquatic center would feature modern locker room, bathroom and concession facilities as well as a community room. Residents offered several ideas for the aquatic center including swimming lanes, maintaining the deep end and diving board and a separate area for water aerobics. Other suggestions included installing a solar water-heating system and the possibility of a smaller indoor pool to complement the proposed outdoor one.
"There are a lot of people that need water therapy and it would be great to have an indoor swimming pool in the wintertime because we have more cold weather than warm weather," said East Palestine resident Virginia Fawcett. "The indoor pool doesn't have to be as big as the outdoor pool. A lot of hotels have indoor pools and it could be about the size of those pools. I don't know the exact dimensions that are needed, but we could make use of an indoor pool with a walk area inside for exercise in the winter."
Also discussed was the village's ability to afford the new pool and the renovated park in general.
"These are great ideas for the park but my question is what is the long-term maintenance plan for this park," resident Brenda Ginder said. "It's going to take a lot of money and a lot of man hours to take care of a brand new park. There needs to be a maintenance plan that gets rolled into the program so we know what the costs are going to be. Can we sustain it?"
Rocco insisted that affordability was heavily considered in the current park plans.
"That's a big focus on everything we've talked about -- sustainability and how do we maintain this long term," she said. "With the current pool, it costs a lot to run the pool. Our goal is to have a pool is far-more cost efficient than the one we have now. We aren't looking to build a park that the village can't support or else it would be counterproductive. That's one of the top priorities at this point."
Park President Amanda Smith added that the current pool costs more money than it makes and that the board's hope is that the new aquatic center will save the money.
"If you looked at our financials right now, you would see that when we run into the red with the pool," Smith said. "We actually lose money, but it's an important part of the community and so we filter where we can to help maintain the pool. The goal is to be more consistent and more sustainable so we are in the black for pool."
Rocco also said the materials to be used in the updates -- particularly the new sports courts and playgrounds -- will be made from materials that require less maintenance.
"With the materials used in the playground areas and sports courts, we plan to use materials that have a longer shelf life and they are not going to need to be repaired in five years," Rocco said. "We want to look at 20 years or 25 years or longer so we don't have all that upkeep."
The cost to maintain the new park wasn't the only concern voiced at the meeting. East Palestine tennis coach Ashley Murphy asked for and received confirmation from Rocco that the construction would not interrupt the high school season and that four courts would remain. Sandy Weigle questioned the need to change the traffic pattern in the park and was told it was a safety suggestion made by the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Besides the pool, Wednesday's meeting also yielded many recommendations for the dog park, including additional parking, lighting , recreation apparatuses, a clean-up station and bulletin board for announcements. A dog-friendly splash pad was also suggested.
Renovating the Girl Scout Cabins as a possible rental and revenue-generating opportunity was also discussed. The current plans do not include any updates to the cabins but do include overhauling the brick pavilion with the addition of a large deck and large glass garage-like doors, a bathroom that can be accessed from inside the building and installing a sidewalk.
Other suggestions included a garden area similar to Hippley Gardens in Columbiana as well as stocking the park's pond and the addition of handicap-accessible play areas and swings.
Rocco said handicap-accessible components are already in the plans as are several other ideas that were proposed at Wednesday's meeting. Those ideas included a natural play area, a sensory friendly play area and electrical hookups near the proposed amphitheater which food trucks could plug into.
That prompted Rocco to pass a copy of the park plans around the room, giving many in attendance a chance to see the proposed plans for the first time.
Rocco also shared the planned construction phase. The phased timeline, which is meant to prevent or at the very least reduce disruption of the park during construction, is set to begin the second quarter of 2024 with the final phase to be completed in the third quarter of 2027.
Rocco said getting the conceptual plans approved quickly is vital to maintaining that timeline.
"At this point we are looking to get this broad scope plan okayed so we can set in motion the next step. At the last meeting, Michael Baker proposed a process of sequencing and scheduling of how things are going to go, but we gathered from you guys that you didn't have enough input so we paused that," Rocco said. "We haven't given them the okay to move forward. So at this next meeting, we are hoping to get things put into motion so we stick to this sequencing as best as possible. This isn't going to be a quick thing. This is going to be years. We want to make sure we have the input and then we can move forward."