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Local News

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Progress Edition: New Hancock Park District director to take helm in 2010
By JIM MAURER

Staff Writer

A new director is expected by June at the Hancock Park District.

Tim Brugeman, the district's only director, retired at the end of 2008 after 35 years.

Brugeman returned in March on a part-time basis and is on a committee to find a new director.

Park board Vice Chairman Gary Hirschfeld, Brugeman and former board member Bill Miller are conducting the search. Applications are due March 1.

At least two interviews will be done by the park board, which will make the decision. An offer will be made in March or April and the new director will start by June 1, according to a timetable presented by the committee.

Separately, the district should hear this summer about a federal grant being sought to help pay for bridge preservation and a paved trail at Riverbend Recreation Area.

The federal grant request may be $150,000 and the district would provide 20 percent more, Brugeman said.

A wrought-iron bridge, formerly on Marion Township 241, has been moved inside Riverbend and connects the Big Oaks Activity Area to the primitive campground. The bridge is closed to passenger vehicles, but will serve pedestrians and maintenance vehicles.

The federal grant would help pay for cleaning and repainting the wrought-iron bridge, which used to span the Blanchard River.

Also, the grant would fund a paved trail between the wrought-iron bridge and a covered wooden bridge that replaced it on Marion Township 241, just off Ohio 568 at the entrance to Riverbend.

The covered bridge cost more than $900,000 and was funded mainly by federal highway money. Hancock County contributed about $100,000 from its motor vehicle and gas tax fund.

The bridge replacement had been in the works since 2006. At the Hancock Park District's urging, federal funds were sought to replace what it considered a historic one-lane bridge with a two-lane covered one.

Separately, the district also should hear this summer about a state grant for construction of a trail from Eastpoint Landing at Bright Road to Marion Township 234.

The grant would fund a paved and stone trail along the Blanchard River. Cost estimates have not been developed, but the district would provide 25 percent of the money.

Construction could begin this year or in 2011 and would take 12 to 18 months.

Separately, a $417,758 grant was received from the Clean Ohio Fund for the purchase of about 62 acres of farmland north of Oakwoods Nature Preserve, off Hancock County 144.

Other Hancock Park District projects:

• A wider entry drive and expansion of the parking lot at "Doc" Phillips Discovery Center in Oakwoods is under way. It will provide easier access for staff, visitors and sportsmen who launch boats at Shank Lake.

• Plans are being developed for improvements to the Discovery Center, with work to be completed in 2011.

• Restrooms in Big Oaks Activity Area at Riverbend will be replaced this year. Cost is estimated at $20,000.

• The playground at Litzenberg Memorial Woods west of Findlay will be expanded this year with assistance from the Kiwanis Club.

• Additional recycling containers will be placed in the parks this year. Hancock Friends of the Parks funded the containers.

City and village parks will continue to have upgrades this year with funding from park district grants. The grants provide about $100,000 annually to parks in villages, Findlay and Fostoria.

At Findlay's Riverside Park, an area around the boat house was revamped last year in a joint project by the Zonta Club and the park district.

A decorative concrete plaza, benches, planters and landscaping were installed, plus interpretive panels about the park's history.

The service club gave more than $5,000 toward renovation of the area, which was damaged during the 2007 flood. The Hancock Parks Foundation matched those funds.

That area of the park was dedicated as "Zonta Landing" in May to commemorate the Zonta Club's 50th anniversary.

Improvements were made near Riverside dam, too. The "Nature's Housekeepers Pavilion at the Waterfalls" honors the Nature's Housekeepers garden club, a branch of the Women's National Farm & Garden Association, and the Hancock Parks Foundation. Each group provided $6,000 for landscaping, new trees and building improvements.

The number of programs in the parks declined in 2009 and so did attendance. A total of 665 programs were offered, either public or requested, attracting 32,545 visitors. In 2008, 764 programs were offered which attracted 43,361 visitors.

The park district said two new programs this year are:

• "Nature Comes Alive," April 20-21 at Riverbend. The program will be for fifth-graders.

• "Flirt with the Dirt," a five-kilometer trail race, July 17 at Riverbend. Proceeds will be donated to Hancock Christian Clearing House.

Separately, plans have been developed for celebrating the 40th anniversary of the park district's founding. It will be celebrated throughout this year. Various activites are being planned, including an Arbor Day observance in April.

Maurer: 419-427-8420, Send an e-mail to Jim Maurer


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"They ran across it and called us," said police Sgt. Justin Hendren with the Hancock County METRICH Drug Enforcement Unit.

Police seized all 20 plants, and Hendren said charges are pending.

High-powered growing lights, fans, and a box filled with dried marijuana were also found in the house, according to a police report.

Investigators said an electrical short started the fire before 3 a.m. Monday.

The blaze caused an estimated $12,000 in damage to the residence, owned by Amanda Crawford. No one was injured, according to the Findlay Fire Department.

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There will be no classes and the college offices will be closed.

Classes will resume and offices will open again on Tuesday.

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Courier business and advertising offices will close at 3 p.m. Friday for the holiday.