It took the Caledonia Board of Aldermen about an hour to go through its agenda before arriving on the last item during Tuesday’s board meeting.
That item, listed on the agenda as “Park Re-Organization,” was placed last on the agenda to allow for unlimited discussion and debate. It was, as Mayor Mitch Wiggins said, “time to fish or cut bait.”
But it took just five minutes for the board to reach its decision. The board approved the creation of a parks commission by a 4-1 vote after a previous motion to appoint a parks director and establish an advisory committee failed by a 3-2 margin.
The choice between the two management structures revolved around how much control the board would have over decisions at Ola J. Pickett Park.
Ultimately the three first-term aldermen — Tammy McCool, Tyler Brock and Matt Furnari — chose to go with a commission, which will act as an autonomous body and be responsible for all decisions concerning the town’s parks and recreation department.
Veteran aldermen Bill Darnell and Quinn Parham preferred a committee, which would advise the board but leave the aldermen with ultimate authority.
Darnell proposed establishing the committee with Parham providing a second. When that vote failed, 3-2, McCool proposed establishing a commission with Brock providing the second. Parham was the lone “no” vote on the proposal, with Darnell switching to back the commission.
“During the election, I heard over an over that (the board) doesn’t care about the park,” McCool said. “I think, with this park commission, we’ll put five great people on it and they’ll lead the park where it needs to go. I’m for trying new things. If we see this is not working, we’ll go another route. But let’s try it.”
Darnell said he was not so much opposed to the commission management structure as he was in making sure the town’s current parks director, Mike Savage, has an opportunity to continue leading the park. Under the new format, the commission will appoint the parks director.
“That was my primary reason,” Darnell said for initially proposing the committee structure. “We have an interim director right now and he’s excellent. I was wanting to give him maybe a year before what we did what we did tonight. There’s nothing wrong with what we have done there now.”
While the board decided how the parks and recreation department will be managed, the heavy lifting will begin at next month’s meeting on Oct. 3.
The town will rely on the state’s guidelines for setting up the commission — everything from determining how many commissioners will serve (state law says it can be up to seven people), terms, budgets, bylaws and myriad other details.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Wiggins said. “But this is a start.”
McCool said she’s optimistic that appointing a commission is a step forward for the town’s parks and recreation department.
“This park is going to succeed,” she said. “It’s the gem of our town.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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