What’s happening at Knox County Parks and Engineering

Local Boy Scout Harrison Master’s work on his Eagle Scout Service Project – installing a series of emergency response locator signs along the Concord Park trails – continues. He’s now completed the installation of the posts and concrete in Concord and printed the signs.

“I’m excited to install the signs on the post,” he said. “I have just sent coordinates of all the signs into Knox-911’s system and I’m waiting to hear back from them. Once they have it in their system, I’ll be ready to install the signs. Thank you again for working with me on this project.”

Masters is working with the Knox County Parks and Recreation Department and Rural Metro to place the markers on the east side of Concord Park. The signs are designed to help emergency responders more quickly identify those who might need medical assistance on the trail. Masters hopes his project inspires others to adopt similar emergency plans across the county.

On Aug. 31, a player collapsed during a game hosted by the Adult Softball League. Several county employees and teammates rushed to the man’s aid as others retrieved an automated external defibrillator, or AED. From there it was a team effort as they read through the directions and walked each other through the lifesaving process. With the help of chest compressions and the AED, the player regained his pulse. And, by the time the ambulance arrived, the man was alert enough to answer some question. He was then transported to the hospital where he underwent several procedures. As of today, he is doing well.

In other parks and recreation news, some of our crews have been working on light replacement at Gibbs Ruritan field, started shutting down irrigation systems on the ball fields (and repaired the one at Beverly Park), set some new benches at I.C. King Park and started sanding and pressure washing the shelter at Walker Springs Park to get it ready for a new coat of paint.

The county’s Engineering and Public Works Department also was busy this past week. The department last year purchased a new jet-vac truck, which is designed to expedite our maintenance operations of our stormwater infrastructure. This truck uses high pressure jets to break up the hardened sediment in our drainage pipes and uses an industrial vacuum to suck the material out of the pipe as it goes. The tank mounted on the chassis of the truck collects the sediment for disposal off site, which limits the addition cleanup on citizen’s property thereby saving time and resources. This expedites these projects by eliminating the need for additional equipment and labor to clean up the muck from the flushing process. We’re extremely grateful to have this machine, and we thought it was a good to highlight how the County strives to put taxpayer’s money to efficient use to better serve our citizens.

In other Engineering and Public Works news, the department have completed several projects including the Barnard Road realignment progress with recent asphalt surface and site stabilization; repaired a sink hole drop-out on Sorrenta Road, removed trees on Greer Road and completed a pipe installation on the Byington Beaver Ridge ditch line after a fatal accident occurred.