BonnerSprings.com

Changes may be coming to Edwardsville City Park.

In Monday's City Council meeting, council members heard a presentation from Doug Pickert, with Indigo Design, a consulting firm that was hired by the city to study the park and establish a scope of short-term and long-term goals for its direction.

"We want to look down the road and determine the long-term future of the property," Pickert told council members. "That way, any investment you make to improve things in the short term would benefit you in the long term."

Pickert presented his suggestions for a phase one and phase two of the park that take into account Edwardsville's growing population and the need to upgrade facilities to keep up with that growth.

In phase one, Pickert first tackled the existing problem of drainage in several areas throughout the park. Near the existing, large soccer field, Pickert said the plan would be to dig deep holes and fill them with gravel. This is the "easiest and cheapest" solution, Pickert said, and would help dry up the area where spectators sit. Also, at the northwest corner of the park, Pickert said he would like to regrade the area to allow for better drainage.

In other areas of the park, fencing would be replaced and trees and shrubs would be planted around the children's play area to bring in more shade. Pickert suggested creating another area in the park with play equipment that is closer to the soccer and baseball fields to help families who have to balance watching one child play in a game and another who wants to play on the playground.

"When folks are having ball games and families are up (at the fields), the other kids cannot be seen (at the existing southern play area)," Pickert said. "The new play area would allow for the smallest child to be seen at all times."

Phase one also brings changes to the parking lots to make them safer. Restriping both lots to create clear in and out routes, Pickert said, would eliminate dangerous situations that he observed during his research.

The exciting changes, however, come from the second phase of the proposal. This is where Pickert said he used the knowledge of the Parks and Recreation Department and the Parks Board to truly understand what Edwardsville City Park would need to be to continue to serve the public adequately in the future.

"When you look down the road to what is the potential needs of those sports fields, say in 2020," Pickert said, "Having extra fields is not going to all fit in this park. At some point this park won't have the room in it for all that programming to take place."

With that in mind, Pickert suggested the city look for another location for soccer fields and focus on the baseball fields at the park's current location. The reason for this, Pickert said, was because the lighting system, which is one of the most difficult parts of putting in a baseball diamond, already exists, making the process smoother and easier.

In the phase-two plans, the park will contain four baseball diamonds of different sizes to accommodate different age levels. Because of the regrading to be done in phase one, Pickert said the location would already be prepared for a baseball field.

Other plans include a new walking system circling the entire park property, adding another shelter house and eventually building a new, updated concession stand.

City Administrator Michael Webb said now that the city had a clear plan for the park's future, it could begin to prioritize projects. The council has not approved any project and the proposal is only in the planning stages, but Webb said the new scope will help the city in the planning process.

In other business, the council:

¢ Approved, 5-0, minutes from the Sept. 8 meeting.

¢ Approved, 5-0, the payment of bills totaling $170,378.

¢ Approved, 5-0, to change a council meeting date from Monday, Oct. 13 to Tuesday, Oct. 14, because of the League of Kansas Municipalities' annual conference.

¢ Confirmed, 5-0, the mayoral of appointment of Kathy Dean to the Cemetery Board.

¢ Approved, 4-2, with Council members Chuck Adams and John Eickhoff opposed, a charter ordinance regarding changes in governance and city operations following Edwardsville's change to being a city of the second class. Charter amendments require four positive votes and the mayor is a voting member.

The new ordinance includes the following:

¢ The governing body will consist of five council member plus a mayor.

¢ All members will be elected at-large by a plurality vote.

¢ Appointed city officials include a municipal judge, city prosecutor, city attorney, city administrator, city clerk, fire chief and police chief. These individuals will service for an indefinite period unless removed by a two-thirds vote of the governing body.

¢ Appointed officers are not required to be residents of the city.

¢ The treasurer will be appointed by the city administrator.

¢ The city administrator is responsible for day-to-day operations of the city.

¢ The city will be exempted from the Kansas Statute that requires an engineer's estimate on every city project.

¢ The mayor will serve two-year terms, while Council members will serve four-year staggered terms.

¢ Presented awards to Edwardsville Police Sgt. Sheila Rogoza for 10 years of service, Sgt. Terry Hammontree for 20 years of service, and Edwardsville Fire Department Chief Cliff Lane for 30 years of service.

¢ Presented awards to the winning floats of this year's AutumnFest parade. See page 8A for the full list of winners.