Centralia Park Board discusses pickleball action

Pickleball, healthier park ponds, new hires at the Centralia Recreation Center and Centralia Community Golf Course were some of the topics discussed during the Centralia Park Board’s Aug. 20 meeting.

During the meeting, board members voted unanimously to participate in the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Community Assistance Program to help maintain the Parks Department’s North Pond at City Recreation Park and the Centralia Community Golf Course irrigation lake.

According to a press release from MDC: “MDC’s CAP program provides fishing opportunities close to home in communities throughout the state of Missouri. Under this program, MDC typically enters into 25-year contracts with cities, counties, state and federal agencies, corporations, foundations, schools and colleges to provide fisheries management on existing lakes and ponds. It also serves to jointly develop facilities for anglers and boaters on lakes and rivers.”

As board members learned from Erle Bennett, director of the city’s parks department, another step to improve city parks is that the city will receive 65 free trees from the Forrest Re-Leaf program this October.

Bennett also announced that he has applied for an MDOC grant to build a walking and biking trail in the City Recreation Park.

According to the minutes, the estimated cost of the trail is $44,963. The grant will cover 50 percent of that.

The department is also applying for a grant to remove and replace trees damaged by the Asian ash borer. In addition, 43 trees were planted on the square in August, according to Bennett.

In another park-related move, they voted to begin construction of a city-owned pickleball court by removing carpet from the City Recreation Park tennis courts and replacing it with paving, which would cost about $25,000.

The photo shows 30 of the 40 players in the tournament. Tammy Chitwood, Rhonda Hatton, Tori Holt and Karen Timpe are all kneeling in front of the group.

In a related discussion, they talked about the pickleball tournament scheduled for August 25 at the Recreation Center and Centralia Intermediate School. One of the organizers, Rhonda Hatton, said 20 teams with 40 participants participated in the tournament. After expenses, the event raised $640 for the pickleball court project.

The board members approved several new hires for the department.

For the full article, see the current issue of the Centralia Fireside Guard.