Now that the Mansfield Parks Department is equipped with a fulltime staff—the first time for that to happen in six years—the department is looking forward to making signficant improvements.
From 2008-2013, the parks department lacked a fulltime staff because of budgetary reasons. With the recent passage of the Mansfield City Municipal Levy, “The parks department is now a self-sustained department,” said Mark Abrams, parks department manager. In addition to his position, there are now two other fulltime employees (an equipment operator and a carpenter maintenance employee), along with three seasonal workers.
He said that volunteers and city employees helped fill the void while the department lacked a fulltime staff. “Friends of the Mansfield Parks did a lot of upkeep to most of the parks,” he noted.
Many volunteers are continuing to lend their time and resources to maintain the parks, including members of Friends of the Mansfield Parks, church members, and volunteers with other organizations.
Abrams commented, “It’s nice to have volunteers and organizations that are willing to help out because that shows there are people out there who care and want to see the parks succeed, so we kind of have to be the gatekeeper of that and make sure that it happens.”
To that end, the department is looking forward to major improvement projects, including the construction of a new pavilion and playground equipment at South Park, as well as the addition of new equipment and the execution of various repairs at Liberty Park. The South Park project is funded by the Richland County Foundation for $140,000. The Liberty Park project is also funded by the Richland County Foundation for $3,000.
John Todd’s Park will also gain a new 40 feet by 60 feet open-air pavilion, which will be paid for by Community Development Block Grant funds of about $19,000.
In the midst of preparing for these projects, the department has had to help “bring things up to speed,” so to speak, Abrams said. He explained that the harsh winter caused damage to many of the waterlines. During the month of May, the department repaired at least 50 waterlines throughout the parks, he estimated.
Despite all of the troubleshooting the department has had to perform, “Things have been going fairly smooth,” Abrams said.
The department oversees 33 parks, as well as two swimming pools—Linden and Liberty pools.
Abrams referenced the Mansfield City levy when discussing his overarching goal for the parks department, saying, “The levy is spread over four-year period, so we have four years to justify to the voters and citizens of Mansfield the job that we’re doing.”
The Mansfield City levy generates $12 million over a four-year period. The parks department is receiving 22 percent of the funds produced by the levy.
Abrams explained that the levy funds have so far been used for such repair projects like the waterline breaks and the department’s 10-year-old mowers, as well as a $59,000 contract with the Mansfield YMCA to help with maintenance of the swimming pools, and for employees’ wages.
“Unfortunately, those are things that people can’t really see, so the overall plan is to do improvements that people can see and put their hands on,” said Abrams.
“Unfortunately, those are things that people can’t really see, so the overall plan is to do improvements that people can see and put their hands on,” said Mark Abrams.
