By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

VERSAILLES — Village Administrator Kyle Francis gets approval to enter into a Joint Use Agreement.

The Joint Use Agreement will be between the Village and the Versailles Poultry Days, Inc. for the use of House Bill 2 Appropriated Funds totaling $175,000 for the construction of restrooms and path lighting at Heritage Park along with other improvements.

“The park received $175,000 in Capital Appropriation money form the State of Ohio, and in order to obtain that money, they have to enter into a joint use agreement with the local municipality jurisdiction. Basically it is to say that the project they are doing does have a benefit to the Village and estimates match,” Francis said.

He said the same scope of practice was done a few years back in regards to the amphitheater that had been back, so Tony Rose provided Francis with documents that outlines the improvements.

“They have to come up with a metric that shows the value to the public for the facilities and the number of years, so that was also provided,” Francis said. “I have no issues with this, and I am glad they were able to obtain that money to continue improving the park.”

The Heritage Park Board announced its planned improvements to the park on Aug. 14 of this year. The park is owned by Poultry Days Inc. and operations are funded with festival proceeds. Eleven volunteers make up a separate park board that actively manages the facilities.

This private owned park is open to the public with minimal to no charge, and the private ownership of the pond also enables fishing without a license. Over the ten years the Heritage Park Board has successfully manages several investments in the park, and these include replacing the walking track, a playground, electrical improvements to support the annual MusicFest and the construction of the amphitheater. Curbs and sidewalks were also installed, and these improvements all have been substantially funded with festival proceeds, grants, donated labor, and limited fundraising.

With input from the community, the park is looking to start the planning of the next phase of improvements. The $500,000 project will focus first on the construction of restrooms near the amphitheater. As use of the amphitheater has grown, the need for closer restrooms has become evident. Stillwater Golf Course has donated the use of golf carts in the past to make up for the lack of closer restrooms, but the board understands the needs to be filled in other ways.

The seconds plan is for the addition of lighting. Adding lighting around the park will improve safety, and third, the board would like to add a larger playground. The playground will replace the older playground and provide additional children’s activities for different age ranges.

The park was fortunate enough to receive a $100,000 matching donation when a local resident head about the new project. they wanted to give and make an impact on the next generation. The resident wanted to remain anonymous, but they are willing to donate up to $100,000 towards the new playground. The catch is that the donation is a matching gift, so for every dollar that others give towards the playground project, they will match that donation.

For example if an individual gives $10 towards the project, the donation will be doubled, as the anonymous donor will match the donation and give $10 as well. The anonymous donor will continue to match donations up to $100,000 total, so if the donations are maxed out, a total of $200,000 of the $500,000 improvement project will be donated towards to project between the anonymous donor and all the other donors combined.

Keeping with the communities generosity, in August, Harold and Deb Pohl also graciously made a $10,000 donation towards the planned improvements at Heritage Park. The Park Board thanked them for their donation and continued support of the parks. Allison Cox, President of the Bocholt Foundation, visited Heritage Park to discuss improvements with Tony Rose, who is on the Park Board.

The Bocholt Foundation is excited to be a part of the project and awarded a grant for the new building. The building of the new restrooms will be located about 80 yards from the amphitheater, which is closer than the current restrooms that are 200 yards away. Bocholt’s mission is to provide aid in education, healthcare, and overall quality of life in Versailles and beyond.

Most recently, the Park Board has received two separate grants from the State of Ohio in support. A $75,000 and a $100,000 Capital Improvement grant were received to assist with the restroom and lighting project. These grants are the grants discussed during the last council meeting.

Heritage Park and the board took to social media to give a special thank you to State Rep. Angie King for her “tenacious support to secure these grants”, and an additional thank you went out to State Senator Matt Huffman, County Commissioner Matt Aultman, and Director of Economic Development Mike Bowers.

“This was a long process and the commitment to make this happen went above and beyond,” the FB post said. “At one point both Aultman and King worked with the team late into the evening to submit a funding request.”

That commitment paid off, as the project was awarded a $175,000 grant. These grants were added to the current donations received, but the board said that substantial funds are still required to complete the estimated $500,000 project.

If you are interested in supporting these projects or learning more, email [email protected] or contact: Tony Rose at 937-638-3132, HB Hole at 937-417-5945, or Brian Griesdorn at 937-417-3227. Donations may be made payable to Heritage Park and mailed to P.O. Box 108, Versailles, OH 43580.

The Versailles Village Council meet every second and fourth Wednesday in the Fire and EMS Building on Baker Road starting at 7 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].