Pool lining installed, mountain bike trail opened, revised map guiding parks property plans nears completion
By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news
Ashland Parks & Recreation Commissioners listened to a litany of mostly good news at their regular business meeting Wednesday.
The end of the first quarter financial report showed a spending rate of 25% — exactly on target for one quarter of the way through the biennium, said Interim Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Eldridge.
During the report’s time frame, July 1 to Sept. 30, 2023, some vacancy savings helped balance the budget as parks spent more on maintenance than normal due to an upsurge in vandalism, she said.
The projected revenue for the remainder of the biennium is “extremely conservative based on some pretty rough years,” Eldridge said, because the recent past was affected by the pandemic.
“We have budgeted about $1 million, I think we’re going to do much better than that. … Things are coming back, we are starting to hire. … We are expecting to increase our revenue in all these categories,” she said.
During her director’s report, Eldridge also announced the hire of two new employees: Parks Superintendent Kevin Caldwell and executive assistant Nancy Mero.
Eldridge was also proud to announce the completion of a new PVC liner for the Daniel Meyer pool at a cost of $61,000 and a new mountain bike trail.
The trail reroutes and replaces a trail on the Alice Ridge property. Volunteers from the Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association and APRC staff built the trail, she said. The private property owners have long waited for the trail to be rerouted to the proper easement area. The previous Alice Ridge trail will likely be closed in Jan.
“It’s not particularly long, but I’ve ridden it a few times and it is a wonderful beginner trail. … Rogue Valley Mountain Bike Association staff with APRC staff decided to call the reroute ‘Mimsy,’” Eldridge said.
The interim director then quoted from memory a line from Lewis Carrol’s “Jabberwocky,” the origin of the word combining miserable and flimsy.
APRC commissioners unanimously approved an update to the language in a proposed ordinance to allow alcohol in city parks in limited circumstances. If the City Council approves the change, alcohol could be served at Butler Bandshell in Lithia Park, Ashland Japanese Garden, North Mountain Park Pavilion and the Oak Knoll Golf Course and other locations on a case-by-case basis.
The update to the Parks and Open Space Map was changed from an action item to a discussion item because commissioners did not have a study session this month, said Commision Chair Rick Landt. The map could continue through the process of approval in the new year.
When the map was first created in 1991, the goal was to create a park within a quarter of a mile of every resident in Ashland. That goal has been achieved with the exception of the Mistletoe and Croman Mills district, Eldridge said.
Over 200 acres of land was removed for potential purchase with a new focus on purchasing smaller amounts of land for riparian protection, recreation and wildfire risk management opportunities or trail connectivity, she said. Landt commented that APRC will in future seek easements rather than purchase where possible for trail connectivity.
Ashland Parks Foundation President Mike Gardiner presented the work of the foundation over 2023. Over $560,000 has been raised for the restoration of the Butler Perozzi Fountain and the foundation donated $16,000 toward Micah BlackLight’s public art piece “Ancestor’s Future: Crystalizing Our Call.” The pickleball community has also opened a small fund with the foundation to contribute to the maintenance of courts.
Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news.
