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SALEM -- The parks department will be receiving new Zoll automatic electronic defibrillators free of charge.
In the parks commission's November meeting, interim Parks Director Kelli Pastore told commissioners that following the passage of House Bill 47, "all schools and recreational facilities in areas with a population greater than 5,000" are required to have automatic electronic defibrillators (AED) available within three minutes round trip of youth sporting areas beginning in 2025. At that time, it was estimated that the department would need eight units to meet requirements across the parks at an expected cost of $1,500 to $3,000 each.
In the commission's December meeting Wednesday, Pastore told the commissioners that not only is the department required to have the units and protective cases, but that they have to be serviced every four weeks by a certified company, and certain department staff would have to be trained in their use. However, Pastore said that following further investigation it had been determined the department would actually only need three units -- one in Centennial Park and two in Waterworth Memorial Park -- as Kelly Park is not used for youth sports and both the Salem City Lake and Teegarden Bridge are technically in Perry Township and therefore do not meet the population threshold to require an AED be posted.
Those three units will be coming at no initial cost to the department, as Pastore said she had been in contact with Zoll Medical and the company would be providing the department with three of their AEDs and the required weatherproof housings through a federal grant it has access to. However, the department will still have to pay $129 a month for the AEDs to be serviced, which Pastore said would also include the cost of training any employees, any updates to the units or to replace a unit should anything go wrong.
"They take care of everything, and they will provide the housing to put everything in and supplies for the first aid station that need to be replaced," said Pastore.
The commission also discussed the renewal of its 1-mill operational levy, which was previously approved by voters in 2020 and is one of two levies the parks department operates on as it does not receive direct funding from the city's general fund, with the other being a 1.3-mill recreation levy last renewed by voters in 2022. The commission previously voted to place the renewal on the ballot in November; however, issues with the language used in the resolutions passed by city council to place them on the ballot led to it being pulled from the ballot.
Pastore said that she had discussed the renewal process with City Auditor Sal Salvino, who said that a resolution would need to be generated and submitted to the city council for approval ahead of its Jan. 7 meeting, with voting to occur in its subsequent meeting Jan. 21, and all documents would need to be submitted to the board of elections no later than 4 p.m. Feb. 5 for certification and ballot approval. However, she said that she would like to see the resolution approved by council Jan. 7 since either way it will require special council action to approve to ensure there is time to smooth any potential issues with the ballot language ahead of the filing deadline and prevent the levy from missing another chance at renewal. Pastore and the commissioners also discussed the potential formation of a citizen levy committee to help promote the renewal and awareness of how important the levy funding is to the department's operations.
Pastore also presented commissioners with a potential partnership with HiWater, a company which places solar powered storage units containing recreational equipment for a variety of games like bocce, cornhole, and tennis and even larger items like kayaks and fishing gear, which can then be rented by parkgoers through an app. Commissioners were previously presented with a similar proposal from Rent Fun by former Parks Director Jacob Logan in June, which they were in favor of but did not feel comfortable with the $12,000 initial investment the Rent Fun proposal carried.
However, Pastore said that the deal with HiWater would come with no cost to the department and would still come with a percentage of the profits from the rental units. Pastore said she did not know exactly what the percentages of the prospective revenue split would be, but that it would be less than the 50% split proposed by Rent Fun. The commissioners ultimately voted to move forward with a business relationship with HiWater and requested Pastore obtain more specific information on the partnership.
As the meeting concluded, the commissioners thanked Parks Commission Vice President Lucille Karnofel for her service to the commission and the department ahead of the conclusion of her term Dec. 31, which will be filled in the new year by Don Yeasted.
"We as a commission would like to thank her for her years of dedicated service," said Panezott.
The parks commission will meet next at 5 p.m. Jan. 22.