November 7, 2022 - Parks and Grounds

VILLAGE OF BREWSTER
COUNCIL OF THE WHOLE MEETING
NOVEMBER 7, 2022 - 6:30 pm

Council Members present: Dale Fox, Dave Godwin, Tom Hilliard, Brett Long, and Sydney Radich.  VA Miller and Clerk-Treasurer Kris King were also in attendance.

Mayor Hawk turned the meeting over to VA Miller to review the Village’s property south of the bridge on St. Rt. 93.  The area where there is currently a no truck parking sign.

People are pulling their vehicles down over the hill and leaving their trash.  They are building fires and leaving beer cans on the ground.  The VA’s concern is that one of these nights someone is going to have too many beers and end up driving into the creek.  There is also a problem with baiting hooks being left in the water.  This is illegal and not a good thing to have with children around.

VA Miller would like to put a guardrail in to prevent vehicles from leaving the area level with the highway.  He would like to put up a sign limiting visitation to the area from dawn to dusk.

The sign also needs to read that there are to be no bank lines, fires, hunting, foot traffic until proper trails are established.

There is a contractor currently cleaning the dead trees and brush out of the creek.  The plan is to use the wood chips to help establish a trail.  There is a nice area for children to see an oxbow and different species of trees.

Council Member Long stated that people need to know they can still go down and fish but no sleeping under the bridge.

Council Member Hilliard asked if the Village owned the creek.  VA Miller stated the Village owns both sides of the creek and the area covers about 23 acres.  There are also illegally put-up deer stands that need to be removed.

Myron Miller is interested in selling some of his adjacent property.  Stark County Parks is interested and so is the Wilderness Center.  The Village is looking at the possibility of purchasing through ENRAC.  VA Miller is scheduling a survey and an appraisal because it is currently hard to tell where the property lines are.  He provided a map of the Village and the Wilderness Center property lines along the Safe Routes to School path.  He stated that connecting the communities is the eventual goal. 

There was a discussion of a Heron rookery in the area and VA Miller stated the path must be at least 300 feet area from the Herons.

Council Member Hilliard wants to see a draft of the sign before it is made.

Meeting adjourned at 6:48 PM.

 

Respectively submitted,

_______________________________
Kris King