From left, Matt Lucy, Judy Radachy, Molly Krepps and Randy Clark, who represent groups that use Brookfield Township Community Park, attended all or part of a series of meetings that covered administrative park issues and the future of the park.
Brookfield trustees recently held a series of public meetings with groups that use Brookfield Township Community Park to set up what they hope will be ongoing dialogue to eliminate any frictions and misunderstandings between the groups, and to consider the park’s long-term future.
Representatives from Brookfield Local School District, Brookfield Youth Baseball and Softball, Trumbull County Adaptive Baseball and Brookfield Youth Soccer League attended at least one of the meetings.
Trustee Dan Suttles said he wants to promote goodwill among the groups that already use the park and make it so they can use the park to its fullest extent to suit their needs.
“I want the park to be used,” said Trustee Mark Ferrara. “Whatever we can do to enhance that, collectively, is what we should be doing.”
The meetings covered basic administrative issues such as when the groups will be using the fields so the township knows when to open the bathrooms, schedule the part-time park worker, change the times when the electronic gate at the front of the park will open and close, and allow rentals of park facilities without interfering with league activities.
They also included dreams of what the park could become. Matt Lucy of the baseball and softball league has already started planning what it would take to add lights to at least some of the fields, and Dave DeJoy, who coaches the high school softball team and also is on the board of the youth baseball and softball league, presented a conceptual sketch that shows new facilities at the park, including a new ball field and basketball court, a tennis or pickle ball court, and moving the Jenny Junction playground.
DeJoy said he devised his plan with an eye to making the park more handicapped accessible and safer, particularly for the youngest children.
Suttles talked of building a paved trail from the school property to the park.
Many of these projects are big-ticket items and the park is funded by a small allocation from the township’s general fund.
“We want to make this more than a baseball park, get as much use as possible,” Suttles said. “The only thing that stops us is funding.”
Officials said they have had preliminary discussions with a grant writer.
The groups talked about drainage issues, conflicts over usage of the fields, having the township be more involved in maintaining the fields (particularly after the ball seasons are over), potential maintenance and improvement projects, and limiting public access to mowers and other equipment, whether it is owned by the township or one of the athletic leagues.
The township trustees already have committed federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to replacing some broken equipment at Jenny Junction and upgrading one of the pavilions.
School officials said their long-term goal is to have all of their athletic facilities on the school campus, but no one spoke against considering a partnership that would enhance the park.
All parties spoke of personality clashes as having stymied cooperation and improvements in the past. School board President Ronda Bonekovic said the school board and the board of trustees have a lot of “open minds” now.
“It’s just a new look on everything,” she said.
“Nearly 12 years, I feel like this is the first time we have pretty good, at least, communication and cooperation, where we’re sitting down and discussing options,” DeJoy said. “There always seemed to be, in times past, it gets derailed pretty quick, either by personality or by opinion. I would just like to see something happen at the park.”
Lucy said he wants that something to happen soon
“At the end of the day, I want to get something moving,” he said. “We talk about a lot of things and nothing’s getting done, yet. I just want to see a project get started, whether it be something I do fundraising for or we work as a group and apply for grants and get something going.”
Trustee Shannon Devitz said she wanted to talk to a grant writer about possible funding.
“If there was ever a time to do this, it’s now,” she said. “We have a good group of people together, and we want to see it in a positive direction.”
