It’s been a tad slow this week with the holidays approaching and folks out, but we still have a bunch of crews hitting the parks, trails and fields every day!
Our carpenters have been rebuilding and cleaning their shop, getting rid of stuff that no one uses or is broken. They also ordered all the parts and equipment needed to build the dog park at Beverly Park. That should be here by the first of the year.
“(The dog park) will roll pretty quick and then the other four will roll right after that,” said Jason Halliburton, who supervises the Parks and Recreation Department’s maintenance staff. “We want to take it one at a time and see how it goes.”
As you might recall, in November the Boyd Foundation and Knox County leaders broke ground on the first Knox Neighborhood Dog Park at Beverly Park, making the beginning stages of the first of 10 new dog parks – five in the county and five in the city of Knoxville.
Once the 10 dog parks are finished, Knox County will rank No. 1 in dog parks per capita in the nation. Knox County is currently ranked 29th.
We’ve got a four-person team back in the Knox County Water Trail, the 44-mile stretch along Beaver Creek that will eventually become a navigable waterway connecting five communities between Clayton Park in Halls and Melton Hill Park in Hardin Valley.
We’d slowed down a bit because we weren’t comfortable with just two people working in the creek.
“The Water Trail is going OK right now but not as fast as we’d like, although that’s due to the holidays,” Halliburton added. “But – again – at the first of the year, we’ll be back plugging away!”
Other crews are out cleaning trails, picking up brush and moving leaves.
“You can write that from now until the time we start mowing,” Halliburton said laughing.
The folks who oversee Concord Park have been working on the boat ramp. There was a large drop off on the sides that they’re diligently trying to fix. In addition, they’ve spent time splitting wood for the annual Holiday Festival of Lights at the Cove.
And speaking of that great (and free) event – which runs from 6-9 p.m. every day through Jan. 2 (except for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day), folks so far have donated $4,163 and eight barrels of food. Visitors are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to donate to the Love Kitchen, which provides meals, clothing and emergency food packages for the homebound, homeless and unemployed. There is also a cash donation box and QR codes that accept Venmo payments.
Last year’s festival set a record for non-perishable food items donated – enough to fill 16 barrels. A total of $7,428,49 also was donated. The prior year set the record in cash donations with $7,677 and 12 barrels of food.
At this time, we don’t know how much has been donated through Venmo, but we’ll check with the Love Kitchen when the festival ends. As a reminder, the Festival is still open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but it won’t be staffed, so the fire pits won’t be up and running on those days. We will, however, leave the lights on!
Of course, our one-man machine Frank Christian was at it again! Here’s the note he sent me:
“Storm cleanup at Meadow Creek Soccer Fields and Plumb Creek Park – trees down,” he said. “Today, some of us are cleaning and hauling off stuff – junk around the parks and the shop.”
The guy never stops working!
Speaking of great work . . . The department has a new “Team Member in the Spotlight.”
Donnie Gideon, a mechanic at Three Ridges Golf Course, and an 11-year veteran of the parks department, was recognized this week. (Three Ridges falls under the Parks’ umbrella.) The department’s senior director, Joe Mack, said Gideon likes to be the first one to open the gate in the morning and makes sure that everything at the course is ready for the maintenance and mowing crews to do their job. Donnie has been named “Chief of Pulling Golf Carts Out of the Pond,” having done so on numerous occasions. For more about Donnie, check out the Department’s Facebook page!
On the recreation side, we don’t have any sports the next two weeks, but basketball resumes Jan. 8 Also, as a reminder: Keep an eye out this January for more details about “NFL Flag Football,” which we will offer in the spring!
In the Gibbs community, folks can make their recommendations for directors by Jan. 10. We’re looking for directors for youth baseball, youth softball, youth tackle football, youth flag football, youth cheer and youth basketball. Once that group is elected, the group will elect a chair, who will represent Gibbs Youth Sports on the Knox County Youth Sports Advisory Board.
The eligibility requirements per Knox County Advisory Board bylaws: “The members of the community YSAB are elected by members of the community of which they reside and will serve a term of three years. YSAB members may be re-elected and serve one additional term for a maximum of six consecutive years (This includes time served as a commissioner years prior to the establishment of the YSAB) after which they can remain as a non-voting member and serve on committees and subcommittees only.”
Each nominee will be added to a Survey Monkey Ballot that will be posted online. Please send nomination to Rachel.griffin@knoxcounty.org by Jan. 10 and vote on the survey until Jan. 24.
Please note that moving forward, all youth sports programs will be handled this way. Parks and Recreation Department leaders will begin meeting with the other groups next year. There’s been some rumors started that the department is trying to “commandeer” the parks. First off, the parks are owned by the county and the taxpayers. The youth league programs operate – through contracts and memorandums of understanding – at the parks. However, there’s been a lot of powerplays in some of the programs and that’s not going to be tolerated anymore. These programs are about the kids! Not the adults trying to make a few bucks off them.
Under the Parks and Recreation Department’s new leadership, we are going to be looking for more transparency – thus a reason for the boards and not just one person running a program.
Additionally, the county at some point will be taking over the registration process for all the programs, which will allow parents to account for every dollar that is spent with the registration money. The fees also will cover uniforms and that will include full uniforms – not just hats and T-shirts. More information on that in the future. Again, it’s about transparency.
That’s it! I’m out. Have a great holiday and Merry Christmas!
Mike Donila is communications director for Knox County government