PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, SEPTEMBER 16, 2016
Banding together PARKS,
continued from Page A1
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
McNary High School band members Emilio Aguilar, Caleb
O’Dell and Chris Lane-Massee spent Saturday, Sept. 10, collect-
ing cans and bottles as part of the Celtic band’s annual fund-
raiser.
KT on vacation
Submitted photo
Fletcher Lee took his Keizertimes to Pyongyang, North Korea,
on a recent trip that included a week in China. Send your KT on
Vacation photos to kt@keizertimes.com.
parks supervisor, said the hope
is to attract someone else
willing to take the project on.
Resurfacing costs alone are
expected to reach $25,000.
Another area of concern in
Chalmers Jones is the gazebo,
its roof needs new shingles.
“It's not terrible now, but
the longer we wait, the more it
is going to cost,” Johnson said.
Mayor Cathy Clark wanted
to see an itemized list of
projects starting with the most
urgent safety needs. While
Johnson has kept a growing list
of projects, it has by no means
meant there is funding available
to take care of it.
“A great example of that
is the south parking lot at
Claggett Creek Park. It was on
the list two years ago and we
just couldn't afford it,” Walsh
said.
Claggett was the tour's
next stop. The south parking
lot gets a lot of use on a daily
basis. During lunch times, it is
frequently packed with visitors
eating meals in their cars. On
weekends, the park is host to
intramural sporting events as
well as parties that reserve the
covered eating area. Johnson
said a lot of contractors pull
into the lot just to use the
portable toilets.
“That's a lot of use,
sometimes from heavy trucks,
and now there are huge
potholes with more on the
way,” Johnson said.
Johnson got estimates to
repair the parking lot two
years ago and they clocked in
around $7,000. After two years
of kicking the can down the
road due to lack of funding, the
cost to repair it has more than
doubled. A large section of the
parking lot will now need to be
removed and replaced. It's on
track to be repaired this year.
Councilors also surveyed a
small basketball court on the
west side of the park that is
nearing the end of its lifespan.
Johnson estimated that the
asphalt surface was 30 to 40
years old and unsafe for the last
decade.
“What I would like to
see us do now is replace the
whole thing with a multi-use
court for tennis, pickleball and
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
ABOVE: Cracks like the ones
seen in the bowl of Carlson
Skate Park are the reason the
park needs to be resurfaced.
RIGHT: Similar issues are af-
fecting a basketball court at
Claggett Creek Park.
basketball,” Johnson said. “With
a multi-use court, we can bring
in more park visitors for just
a little more money than it
would take to replace what's
already here.”
The price tag would be
about $50,000.
During the Claggett stop,
City Councilor Amy Ryan
suggested creating an adopt-
a-park program to entice local
businesses looking for ways
to support the community.
Business sponsors could be
encouraged to help with clean-
up as well as providing new
amenities in the parks they
sponsor, she suggested.
Johnson said he would
prefer a program that focused
on repairing existing amenities
and adding new ones, even
small additions like benches
and tables.
During a tour of Ben Miller
Park in southeast Keizer, Clark
directed parks advisory board
members to look into adopt-
a-park programs in other city's
and determine what a Keizer
program might look like.
The idea met with some
resistance from JT Hager, a
member of the parks advisory
board.
“My goal as a member of
the parks board is stabilized,
long-term funding and not
sponsorships that can go away
at any moment,” Hager said.
When other members
of the group pushed back
suggesting it was a way to
promote ownership within
the community, Hager pressed
forward.
“If we are adding a fee to
utility bills in the city, that's also
ownership and it's going to get
more people engaged,” he said.
City leaders are exploring
the options for a fee added to
utility bills that would create
dedicated funds for parks and
police.
The fi nal stop of the tour
was Keizer Little League (KLL)
Park where Clint Holland, a
member of the parks board
and prominent Keizer booster,
is leading up an effort to
rehabilitate the facilities.
After years of neglect, the
condition of the park and its
fi elds reached critical mass a
few years ago.
Holland received a $10,000
matching grant from the city
to begin work on a multiyear,
large-scale
overhaul, and
announced during the tour
that he'd secured another
$50,000 from Keizer Rotary
Club to advance his plans. The
Rotary grant will be delivered
in $10,000 increments over the
next four years.
Holland hopes to lure more
tournaments to the facility, but
that isn't the end run, he said.
“In the best years of KLL
park, the concession stand
netted $35,000 a year. It
bottomed out at around $1,500
a few years ago, but now its
back up to $15,000. If we can
get some of the tournaments,
that revenue is going to go
back up and that's more money
we can use to help maintain the
park,” Holland said.
The maintenance of the park
is delegated to a local youth
sports group that takes on a
contract with the city. KLL is
the current contractor, but the
agreement is up for renewal in
October. City offi cials could
also choose a new contractor.
In the past week, two of the
fi elds at KLL have been killed
and are scheduled to be replaced
before the beginning of the
season next year. Holland's
next plans include lighting four
additional fi elds that would
allow for more nighttime
games, and by extension, more
tournament play.
“I really want us to get back
to the point where we have a
big Iris Festival tournament
every year,” Holland said.
Sam Goesch CLU, Agent
Sam Goesch
Ins Agcy Inc
3975 River Road North
Keizer, OR 97303
Bus: 503-393-6252 Web: SamGoesch.com
State Farm , Bloomington, IL
1211999
WorshipDirectory
These Salem-Keizer houses of worship invite you to visit.
Call to list your church in our Worship Directory: (503) 390-1051
John Knox Presbyterian Church
JOIN US FOR
SUNDAY WORSHIP
452 Cummings Lane North • 393-0404
8:30 am • 10 am • 11:30 am • 6 pm
PEOPLESCHURCH
4500 LANCASTER DR NE | SALEM
503.304.4000 • www.peopleschurch.com
Father Gary L. Zerr, Pastor
Saturday Vigil Liturgy: 5:30 p.m.
Sundays: 8:15 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.
La Misa en Español: 12:30 p.m.
Celebration
Services
Saturday Evening
6:00 pm
Children’s Programs, Student and Adult Ministries
1755 Lockhaven Dr. NE Keizer
503-390-3900
www.dayspringfellowship.com
Sunday Morning
9:00 am
and
10:45 am
Rev. Dr. John Neal, Pastor
Worship - 10:30 a.m.
Education Hour - 9:15 a.m.
Nursery Care Available
www.keizerjkpres.org
Faith Lutheran Church
4505 River Rd N • 393-4507
Sunday Schedule:
9:00 a.m. Children’s Church
9:15 a.m. Adult Bible Study
9:30 a.m. Children’s Activities
Pastor
Virginia Eggert 10:30 a.m. Worship with Communion