Potential levy discussed at Bath state of the parks address

by Scott Kriska

The annual Bath state of the parks address on May 18 covered various topics including the North Fork Preserve, student education and putting a park levy on the November ballot.

Bath Park Board President John Landis began the address by recognizing the work of former Bath Parks Director Alan Garner, who died on March 31. He had worked with the township’s park division since 2005.

“He’s a big role to fill,” Landis said.

Service Director Caine Collins added, “He is already deeply missed.”

Police Chief/Administrator Vito Sinopoli addressed a proposal to have a park levy placed on the November ballot. He said while the township currently has a .75-mill levy covering the operations and maintenance of the parks, the passage of a 1.1-mill levy would bring approximately $685,000 to the park district.

Sinopoli broke it down as a .75-mill replacement of the existing base levy with a .35 increase. It would be for five years.

Landis said a new levy would be essential due to the expansion of the park district since the passage of its last levy in 2018.

 “There’s a lot more activity in the park. There’s a lot more involvement from the public in the park,” he said. “There’s a lot more baseball and soccer and cross-country. There are a lot of sports in the parks, in addition to just people enjoying the parks.”

Bath Township Trustee Elaina Goodrich educated residents on the history of the township’s parks including Bath Community Park, Bath Baseball Park, Bath Hill Park and Bath Nature Preserve.

Goodrich also mentioned the North Fork Preserve at 4400 Everett Rd., which has yet to be opened to the public. A trust for public land to create the preserve was filed in 2018, but the public opening of the property had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also presenting at the state of the parks was University of Akron Field Station Director Dr. Lara Roketenetz, who discussed the field station’s educational endeavors for schoolchildren. In 2022 and so far in 2023, she said 367 fourth-grade students from Bath Elementary School and Richfield Elementary School visited the field station. Since 2021, Roketenetz and other park officials have made 2,750 visits to school classrooms to deliver presentations and workshops to students.

Roketenetz then introduced Dr. Jean Marie Hartman, a Rutgers University professor who has been working on a restoration project on the Bath Nature Preserve’s tamarack bog.

“Many years ago, it was kind of drained,” Landis explained. “Before people realized it was a bog, they actually drained it so people could hunt through there and ride their horses through there, but then, Bath Township took it over and realized it was a bog and of very good natural significance.”

The restoration project included the monitoring of water chemistry, hydrology and changes in vegetation.

Collins then addressed some park objectives for the remainder of the year, including the public opening of the North Fork Preserve of Bath and repairing the scoreboard at the Bath Baseball Park.

Landis concluded the address by saying he hopes the township’s parks continue to fulfill their visitors as summer approaches.

“We have to sort of live with nature and enjoy nature because we only have one planet, and we need to take care of our local environment,” Landis said. “I want people to especially bring their young kids and get them to learn about parks and nature and protecting nature for future generations.” ∞