Close to 20 people were at the Brown County Parks and Recreation stakeholder meeting on Feb. 9. Coaches, volunteers and parents met with board members to discuss Deer Run Park and the five-year master plan draft. Abigail Youmans | The Democrat
Brown County Parks and Recreation’s board of directors held a special meeting last month to get input from community stakeholders on the department’s five-year master plan draft.
The plan was submitted to Indiana Department of Natural Resources in January after the parks and rec board approved it in December. The final draft is due by April 15.
After it gains approval from DNR, the master plan will act as a written framework for any future action the department takes regarding facilities and developing services. It is also a way for the community to have a say in the future of the parks and recreation department as well as establishing support for future facilities.
A priority for the five year master plan includes finalizing a comprehensive land use plan for 72-acre Deer Run Park. The land use plan could be used to address current issues at the park along with establishing future plans for the land.
A land plan would outline the future of the four lower ball diamonds that are in the floodway at Deer Run Park, the former parks and rec office building, the disc golf course and maintenance of equipment.
Other priorities within that land use plan includes building at least one additional shelter house, identifying possible access points for a multi-use trail from Nashville and the potential for other amenities residents identified as a need, like a bicycle pump track or outdoor pickleball court.
Community says
About 15 community members who participate in adult leagues, coach youth teams, spend time in the community garden at Deer Run Park and parents of kids who are involved in sports were invited to give specific feedback at the meeting on Feb. 9 at Sycamore Valley Community Center.
Board member Kara Hammes explained to participants that the goal of having them at the meeting was to help ensure that the public does want facilities or programs that need developed, decide what the community wants at large and identify community funding opportunities.
The board as a whole, she said, also wanted more specific input from people directly involved in the program, especially specific information about Deer Run Park.
Hammes named three issues in the meeting that were specific to the park: lack of a safe multi-use trail from the park into town; no detailed comprehensive land use plan for Deer Run; the old office building not complying with Americans with Disabilities Act standards and being in the floodway.
Individuals from the community gardening group and others who enjoy the park’s natural areas said they enjoyed the balance between those areas and sporting activities.
The gardening group and others also expressed concerns that Deer Run might possibly become a “sports park,” with natural areas cut back too far to make room for more ball fields.
Hammes noted that parks and rec is in the process of dealing with invasive species and that process “can look harsh.”
Those who use the grounds believe that the garden could be more community oriented if it were more easily accessible, said community garden member Tom Bower. He suggested the addition of a new picnic table or even a shelter space at the garden.
With space to grow the garden, Bower suggested that parks and rec host a gardening class to draw more in.
Amanda Doss started a parks and rec softball league. She also plays disc golf at Deer Run Park. She suggested adding and servicing disc golf tee stands at the park.
Local contractor Kyle Wagers has volunteered as a coach with parks and rec. He said that while he is in favor of elements like nature trails, parks and rec’s focus should be directed to the future of local kids. He said he could see parks and rec opening an indoor recreational facility.
“I think we really need to focus on our youth,” he said. “There’s nothing for them to do (locally) so they’re all going down the wrong paths. In my eyes it’s giving them the best that we can to keep them on the right path.”
Brown County High School teacher Jim McFall has coached for the schools and parks and rec in a variety of sports. He suggested having non-competitive skill development sports sessions or camps for kids.
Doss added that a reason Brown County cannot compete athletically with surrounding towns and counties is due to a lack of training facilities, which is why she and her husband started the softball league.
Operating costs for parks and rec every year is anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 more than the county’s allotment for the program, Hammes said. Cost differences are covered by programming fees.
Because parks and rec is a facet of Brown County government, it cannot apply as freely for grants and financial assistance the same as a nonprofit might.
An organization like “Friends of Brown County State Park” — a nonprofit “fundraising arm” for the state park — tailored for parks and rec could be help them apply for grants to support more programming and activities, Hammes said.
“There are ways parks and rec can structure itself to make a lot more money,” Hammes said.
The ideas of using ball fields for weekend baseball or softball tournaments was also mentioned as a method for bringing in revenue, but concern was expressed for potential tournaments making the park inaccessible for locals on weekends.
‘Maintaining what we have’
Four of the six ball diamonds on the property are regulation size for baseball and softball. Those four also happen to be near Salt Creek, in the floodway.
About 50 or 60% of Deer Run’s 72 acres sits in the floodway. Whenever it floods, which Hammes said has been about once every year, those diamonds have been consistently damaged.
The future of those fields and adding more fields somewhere else on the property was discussed during the special meeting, but no decision was made. The two upper fields on the property are not regulation size.
“You can see why we’ve gone round and round, there’s so many choices. Every decision we make has a trade-off of what could be done in the future,” Hammes said. “Deer Run has a lot going for it, but a main focus is maintaining what we have.”
Doss said she was “all for” abandoning ball fields in the floodway, but there need to be more than two on the property that are regulation size.
Parks and rec Director Mark Shields said it will be important to prioritize what projects could be done on the land at Deer Run Park.
Anthony Austin lives in Columbus, but his kids are in Brown County Schools and participate in activities here. He said he would like to see “controlled growth,” with parks and rec focusing on facilities they have now.
Local contractor Heath Root has played in the adult basketball league for 25 years.
He reflected on playing in the summer league in Columbus as a teen, which was an element he thought was missing growing up in Brown County. He suggested a summer basketball league for kids, using the outdoor basketball court at Deer Run Park.
He also said that funds could be saved if coaches were also referees during certain games, which he and another coach did during last year’s soccer season.
The idea of an open house or fair to learn about parks and rec, as well as offerings by Scouts or the schools, was mentioned by Hammes.
Shields said that communication is one of the biggest hurdles for parks and rec and that they do send information to the schools in hopes it gets to students.
McFall suggested partnering with the schools to send out notifications on the ParentSquare app, which allows parents and guardians to receive updates. He also mentioned posting to certain Facebook groups and pages.
Shields said that they do post to parks and rec’s own Facebook page, but that often goes unseen. Like with this year’s call out for volunteers for the Daddy Daughter Dance, which was canceled due to a lack of volunteers. After a story ran in the Brown County Democrat about the cancellation, there were posts on social media from community members saying they did not know volunteers were needed.
”You have a lot of help in the community, you just have to let them know,” Chad Williams said. Williams is a sergeant with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department and is a softball coach for parks and rec.
Jessica Wagers said the same about sponsorship from local businesses. She and her husband Kyle both own businesses and sponsor parks and rec teams. She said more businesses would sign up if they were approached.
Doss said if the community knew that spaces were available for instruction, volunteers would be willing. Hammes said that if there are volunteers interested in offering classes through parks and rec, the board has everything in place to help facilitate that.
At the end of the meeting, Shields said that topics discussed that night and feedback they received were helpful.
“I learn something every day as far as what to improve,” he said.
