After more than a year, the Wood County Park District is planning to reopen facilities for rental.

At the March 9 meeting, the park commissioners agreed to allow only the six rentals previously planned for April to move forward with restrictions set in place for their usage during the pandemic.

Those include:

•Practicing social distancing by maintaining a six-foot distance between persons, if possible, and to the extent possible while in the facility, on the porch/deck areas and on the grounds.

•Wearing face coverings except when actively eating or drinking.

•Keeping tables at least six feet apart. Tables and chairs will be prearranged and guests may not move them. Maximum capacity at facilities will be 60.

•Having family members from the same household share a table to the extent possible.

•Agreeing not to use selfservice food stations. Food must be served by a person or persons while wearing face coverings and gloves.

•Washing hands often. Renters and guests agree to bring hand sanitizer for use by their group.

•Not allowing anyone with symptoms to enter the facility. Per the Centers for Disease Control, symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat and loss of taste or smell.

•Cleaning high contact surfaces hourly.

•Prohibiting dance floors and people congregating. Guests are expected to remain seated during the event.

Failure to comply with the guidelines will result in the immediate termination of the event, forfeiture of the deposit, and may result in the denial of future rentals.

Park Police Sergeant Eric Shiffler, who typically works weekends, expressed concern with monitoring the groups for size and maskings.

“I don’t want to be the mask police,” he said, adding the department needs direction on what constitutes shutting down an event, a few people or many maskless or maskless while outside.

The sergeant also noted he doesn’t have, nor does he want, a clicker to count the number of people attending an event.

The commissioners acknowledged his points.

I wouldn’t want to be the mask police either,” Commissioner Tom Myers said.

Commissioner Denny Parish said he isn’t worried so much about masks as the numbers in attendance.

“You can eyeball it and see if there are too many people and shut it down,” he said, adding he trusts the officer’s judgment.

Mr. Parish admits that monitoring face coverings could be a challenge. “With masks, there are a lot of gray areas, but numbers are numbers,” he added.

Mr. Myers suggested that since there are only six rentals in April, the park district allow those to move forward as a soft opening. “We can use them as a dry run with no new rentals in April,” and the board agreed.

Patrol Rifles

The commissioners approved the purchase of seven rifles for the park police at a cost of $10,245.

Neil Munger, park director, noted that although the police did not receive a grant to cover the expense, “we do have enough in the budget to cover the cost.”

Sgt. Shiffler said some of the officers currently carry their own and believes the AR 223 semi-automatic weapons would be useful.

He pointed out the department does assist other agencies when needed, but unlike their counterparts, lacks this equipment.

Mr. Munger said officers already train for use of the weapon.

When asked how long the weapons will last, the sergeant responded, “about 10 years,” adding that current pistols are on a 10-year replacement.

Commissioner Kim Rose questioned how long it will take to receive the weapons, and Officer Mark Wagner estimated it could take up to six months.

Commissioner Sandy Wiechman questioned the availability of ammunition.

Officer Wagner acknowledged that ammunition is hard to come by, but hadn’t priced it, pending approval of the rifles.

Other Business

In other business, the park board:

•Submitted a request to receive Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) Ohio park districts roadwork funds for fiscal years 2022-23.

Mr. Munger said the park district has participated in the ODOT program before, noting that funds received are designated for improvements to public park roads only.

“We are not allowed to use them for trails as the money comes from gasoline taxes,” he explained.

•Set meeting locations for the remainder of 2021. For the next seven months, meeting will be at 4 p.m., the second Tuesday of each month and will take place at different district parks.

They are Sawyer Quarry Nature Preserve, April 13; JC Reuthinger Memorial Preserve, May 11; Arrowhead Archery Range, June 8; Carter Historic Farm, July 13; Otsego Park, August 10; William Henry Harrison Park, September 14, and Cedar Creeks Preserve, October 12. November and December meetings will be at park headquarters, 18729 Mercer Road, Bowling Green.

•Approved the distribution of local park improvement grant funds to area jurisdictions awarded the money at the end of last year. Locally, Perrysburg Township will receive $4,205 for installation of playground safety surfacing.

In a related matter, the board discussed a request from Pemberville council to utilize their $6,919 toward repairs to their pool.

Jeff Baney, assistant director, explained that the village was awarded a local park grant for installation of pickleball courts with the intent of partially matching the grant by $3,000.

But due to issues with the village swimming pool, they would like to use the funds toward its repair. In addition, the village no longer has matching grant funds since those will go toward pool repairs.

“The pool is their priority,” he said.

Mr. Munger noted park policy has been that the grant must be used for the purpose designated and recommended that be followed.

Several commissioners questioned whether the grant could be set aside should the village be able to obtain matching funds and move forward with the project sometime later in 2021.

Mr. Munger replied that the grant can be held in escrow, and the park board elected to give the village time to raise the $3,000 match.

Mr. Baney will contact the village mayor to inform him of the board’s decision.

The next park board meeting will be at 4 p.m., Tuesday, April 13, at JC Reuthinger Memorial Preserve, 30730 Oregon Road, Perrysburg Township, and is open to the public. Mask and social distancing mandates will be followed.