Daviess County approves West Boggs Park repairs, seasonal wage range change

Daviess County commissioners approved a $15,000 additional appropriation for repairs at West Boggs Park and voted to change the park’s seasonal part-time wage range to a $9 minimum and $25 maximum.

Park representative Nathan Rimm described multiple maintenance and program issues at the park, including more than $30,000 in damage after bermuda grass used on golf-course fairways failed over winter and subsequent topsoil erosion. Rimm said the golf-course operator paid for immediate materials and that Rimm contacted the State Board of Accounts to confirm the county could use its tax ID to purchase materials for park property so the operator would not pay sales tax. Rimm said the full repair work ultimately cost about $33,375 and that the additional appropriation on the meeting agenda covered $15,000 for building repairs that met the meeting’s posting deadlines.

Rimm described lake-improvement work using a product from a company called Enzyme Solutions, which he said was applied at larger scale this season after a small-scale trial showed local improvement. He said weekly or near-weekly lab testing is being used to measure algae and cell counts; he cited current counts around 43,000 and said prior years showed counts over 100,000 and, earlier, “hundreds of thousands.” Rimm said landowner cooperation and volunteer application at docks are part of the approach. He said a grant application was submitted through a local hospital and that results would be known in August.

Rimm also reported sponsorship income of $9,250 for entertainment events (Martin County Community Foundation $10,000 was reported elsewhere for another item; sponsors listed for entertainment included Martin County Tourism $5,000; Crane Credit Union $500; US Gypsum $500; Matrix $2,000; Kearns Insurance $150; Lock Millers $500; M and M $100; Old National $500). He said roughly 1,000s of visitors used the park on July Fourth weekend and that the beach house roof and showers had been repaired or are near completion.

On staffing, Rimm said the park sought to lower the bottom of the seasonal pay scale to $9 and raise the top to $25, citing the need for occasional higher-skilled repairs, electrical work, and grant-writing support. Commissioners moved to approve that wage-range change. Commissioner Matt made the motion; Tom seconded. The motion carried.

The commissioners approved the $15,000 additional appropriation for West Boggs building repairs in a separate motion. The packet included documentation of cleared checks, an agreement between the county and the golf-course operator, and notice that donated or designated funds must be placed in a separate fund per State Board of Accounts guidance so they are spent only for their intended purpose.

Commissioners asked staff to coordinate how donated or operator-paid funds should be accounted for and placed in the correct fund for grant or donated money rather than general operations. Rimm said he would provide lab results and related documentation on lake testing to commissioners on request.

Less-critical details: Rimm said the park had saved about $33,000 in labor compared with the prior year by consolidating shifts and reducing seasonal staff needs. He also noted that some additional appropriations would appear on the next meeting’s agenda because of advertisement timing.