Park board members passed a resolution Wednesday limiting tobacco use in the city park system and continued a discussion concerning the placement of surveillance cameras at some locations.
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Members of the Trenton R-9 Smokebusters group and their advisors, Lisa Schilling and Connie Smith, were at the meeting to ask the board to pass a resolution making all Trenton Parks tobacco-free. The students noted that although a resolution is not an ordinance or a law and is not enforceable, it does make a strong statement and sends a message to youth that tobacco use is harmful. The group indicated they would help pay for the cost of signage denoting tobacco-free areas within the park system.
One of the main areas discussed was the Trenton Family Aquatic Center, which is already tobacco-free on the inside, but smokers routinely gather just outside the front door and around the fence to smoke. Not only does this result in grounds maintenance issues, it also requires people who are in the area to go through the smoke to enter or exit the center.
Marti Williams, a member of the board, said she agreed with a lot of what the group was saying, but that she couldn’t see doing it in all the parks, noting that those people pay taxes, too. She did agree that there is an issue at the aquatic center, but noted that she didn’t feel she could vote for it.
“Until it’s completely outlawed, I can’t do it,” she said.
Mrs. Schilling said that prohibiting smoking in city parks is a growing trend and has been done successfully in many cities. She agreed that it is not always enforceable, but said most people will obey a sign if it indicates it is a no-smoking area. She said she would really like to see a perimeter set around the ballfields so people are not smoking in the bleachers or right next to the concession stands.
Board member Dean Sager said he would like to see the parks be tobacco-free, and while he did not feel it could be enforced, he believes that a perimeter could be set up to limit smoking to within certain areas.
“It may not cure everything,” he said. “But it might help.”
Park Superintendent Jason Shuler said the way to look at it is that the board would be “not designating ‘smoking’ areas, but designating ‘no smoking’ areas.” In discussing the signage, board member Frank Kinney said he doesn’t like the idea of passing something that can’t be enforced and then placing signage about it in the parks.
“I don’t want all of our signs to mean nothing,” he explained.
Following the discussion, the board voted to approve a resolution to make all structures in the park system tobacco-free and to set designated perimeters around each structure as tobacco-free. Among the structures included are ballfields, the Rock Barn, aquatic center, shelter houses, skate park, playground areas, basketball courts, tennis courts, etc. The vote was 5-2, with Sager, Lynda Lynch, Steve Muff, Mark Morse and Rick Hull voting yes and Mrs. Williams and Frank Kinney voting no. The perimeters will be decided at a later date.
The board met with Ted Neil of Ted’s Quality Computer Service of Laredo to discuss security cameras at the aquatic center. While bids will have to be sought, Neil gave a estimate of $9,743 for a four-camera system at the aquatic center, not including installation of $45 per hour. The board will continue the discussion of purchasing cameras, which would be used not only for security, but also as a way to allow the public to view the aquatic center and possibly other park attractions, such as the skate park.
In other business, the board agreed that the Green Hills Women’s Shelter could use the grandstand on Sept. 8 for a benefit bullride and discussed a preliminary budget, which will be brought back for approval at the April meeting. The board also approved a use agreement with the Trenton R-9 School District, which involves the property exchange of Griffin Field and C.F. Russell Stadium. The agreement is basically the reverse of an agreement that has always been in place and is necessary to complete the legal aspects of the exchange, which will involve Griffin Field being deeded to the city and the stadium being deeded to the school district.
City Administrator Kerry Sampson told the board that Randy Railsback of the Green Hills Regional Planning Commission has agreed to update a new five-year plan for the park system at no cost. Sampson said another survey is needed, since the last one was completed seven years ago, and focus groups will also be brought in to discuss what is desired in the park system. Railsback will then help the board set the priorities for the next five years and develop cost estimates for those projects.
The board discussed the need for a concession stand committee that would help ensure that products that are being sold would be the same throughout the system and to help increase the profits of the stands. It was decided that the Grounds Committee will oversee the concession stands.
In his report, Shuler discussed projects his department has been involved with in the past month, including assisting with the construction of a club house at the shooting range north of Trenton. He also said the scoreboards at the Ebbe Sports Complex have been repaired and noted that strong winds blew over a light pole at Griffin Field last Thursday, destroying the five fixtures on the pole and part of a fence. Shuler said he is getting estimates on the cost of repairs and said a new wood pole would cost $2,100, with the fixtures running about $300 each.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 4.