Pioneer Park approves $3.8M in Phase 1 upgrades

Phases 2 and 3 at Pioneer Park contingent on available funding

MOORESVILLE — The Mooresville Park Board gave the go-ahead for the parks to spend up to $4.3 million on proposed upgrades at Pioneer Park.

During the July 8 board meeting, park superintendent Phil Cornelius gave an update on the project, which has been divided into three phases.

Cornelius told the board that the project was at the end of the scoping portion of the build, operate, transfer (BOT) process. “Which basically leads to this governing board to approve final scope, which will then initiate the financial component and contract negotiating, which would then be to the board for a public hearing and final adoption for the project,” Cornelius said.

Phase 1 of the project includes eight pickleball courts, the antique gazebo, an addition to the maintenance facility that includes a public restroom, and additional parking at a cost of about $3.79 million.“

A lot of this also includes earthwork, stormwater retention package to handle the runoff, which also will help in size for the future phases,” Cornelius said.

Phase 2 would go into further earthwork, site preparation for a future maintenance facility, adds a loop drive for maintenance and extends parking.

The cost for the second phase would add about $961,000 to the cost, bringing the total for both phases to $4.75 million.

Phase 3 includes adding a new maintenance facility at a cost of about $930,000 and bringing the overall total of the project to $5.68 million.

To fund the project, the Mooresville Redevelopment Commission (RDC) has dedicated $3.15 million to the project and the town has given permission for the parks to use about $440,000 from its non-reverting capital fund. The park was also recently awarded $250,000 from the READI 2.0 grants, giving the parks up to $3.84 million for the project through these funding options.

With this funding level, Cornelius noted, the parks are about $912,000 short from completely activating the first two phases of the project.

Park board president Matt Saner asked if the parks have had any discussions with the town council to chip in additional money for the project.

“We have not had any further conversations since our last approach, I think, in October,” Cornelius responded.

One option the board discussed to make up some of the difference includes using funds from the park’s RECU fund.

Cornelius said the park is comfortable with spending about $450,000 from the RECU fund, which would keep about 60 percent of the fund’s current balance in its reserves.

Saner asked what the board needed to do at the meeting to move the project forward.

“You need to, basically, determine as a board what phase you would like to activate as your final scope, and if you would like a contingency of adding additional phases, you can do so in the motion,” Cornelius said.

He also said the board could make the motion open-ended by approving the first phase and allowing additional negotiations for the second and third phases. “My recommendation would be to activate Phase 1, with the contingency, pending on additional funding, to roll into Phase 2,” Cornelius said. “Ultimately, I would love to say let’s do Phase 3, but that margin of funds that are not available is too great.”

The board unanimously decided to approve the first phase with a contingency to move to phase two and not exceed $4.3 million, which includes the $3.15 million from the RDC, the $440,000 from the park’s non-reverting capital fund, the $250,000 from the READI 2.0 grant and $460,000 from the RECU fund.

~ By Lance Gideon | Reporter | Published July 18, 2024 in The Morgan County Correspondent

MOORESVILLE — This year’s Old Settlers Fair will take place at Pioneer Park from Aug. 1-4, according to Mooresville Lions Club member Randy Haymaker.

He was present at the Mooresville Park Board meeting on June 10 to discuss some of the plans for this year’s fair.

Haymaker told the board this year’s fair will include more entertainment than in the past. “We are able to do that because last year was such a success,” Haymaker noted.

He asked park officials if there would be any changes in parking for the event this year.

Parks superintendent Phil Cornelius said there would be no changes in the parking from previous years.

“Will we need to provide any additional security?” Haymaker asked. “It went along well last year.”

“Nope, everything we did last year went well, so looking at doing the same thing this year,” Cornelius responded.

Haymaker also asked if the park would be able to supply a dumpster to the Lions Club.

Cornelius told Haymaker the park can have a dumpster ready for the fair.

According to Haymaker, there will be pre-sale wristbands available for purchase for fair-goers to ride the rides.

The wristbands will be “day specific” for each of the days of this year’s event.

“If you want to use a wristband on four days, you got to buy four of them,” Haymaker noted.

One different thing from last year the Lions Club is requesting is more Port-a-Potties for the event, and for one or two of them to be ADA accessible.

Haymaker told the board that the Lions Club took over managing the Old Settlers Fair in 1946.

During the meeting, Haymaker was asked about the Old Settlers Parade.

He noted, however, that the parade is managed by the Sons of the American Legion and will take place on Sunday, Aug. 4, this year.

Pioneer Park Project

Cornelius told the board that its building committee and Pioneer Park Project team met recently to go over the plans for the updates at the park.

“Went over the whole plan concept funding up to this point … and really went into the nitty gritty of the whole project,” Cornelius said, adding that it was determined a work session would be necessary for the whole board to attend.

That work session took place on June 12, which gave the park board the ability to ask the project team questions about the plans for the updates at Pioneer Park.

It also allowed the team to determine the final scope of the project, which will then give the project team the ability to determine the overall cost of the work.

“That still puts us in the scope of July approving final budget and scope,” Cornelius said. “Project beginning shortly afterwards.”

He added there would be a permitting process which would take about two months, and a groundbreaking taking place shortly after.

“We’re really on schedule,” Cornelius said. “Couple of things have taken a little longer than expected, but we were anticipating going into this project that stormwater was going to be one of those questions, curveballs that we needed to figure out, and it was going to take time to make sure that we did it right.”

~ By Lance Gideon | Reporter | Published June 20, 2024 in The Morgan County Correspondent

MOORESVILLE — Mooresville Parks and Recreation will host a grand reopening of Old Town Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 5.

Over the last year, a new restroom facility has been installed at the park, and a new playground has been installed more recently.

“We’re planning to be there, make it a community event, really showcase our improvements into that project,” parks superintendent Phil Cornelius said. “With the restroom and playground investment, along with the new sidewalks pathways for ADA accessibility, … it’s roughly over $310,000 worth of capital project improvements for this park.”

During the Mooresville Park Board’s May 13 meeting, Cornelius said there are still some finishing touches that need to be added at Old Town Park.

“That’s fixing some of the landscaping, beautification process, but we do have some other fun things to hopefully come to that park,” Cornelius added.

Aquatic center update

With the arrival of warmer temperatures, folks around the area will be visiting the aquatic center at Pioneer Park.

During the board meeting, Cornelius told members that the pool had already been filled in preparation for the season.

“This year, we had a new surprise,” Cornelius said. “The start of this year, every year we have some type of surprise.”

According to Cornelius, the “surprise” this year concerned chemical balancing in the pool. “We were receiving intake, whenever we were filling the main pool, and getting what’s called metal material,” Cornelius said, adding that the material is harmless.

He said the parks worked with Indiana American Water, which tested the water coming into the system. The testing came back clean.

The conclusion is that the issue is with the pool’s sand filters.

“The only component that is metal from that fill to our main pool is our sand filters,” Cornelius said. “So that is telling us that they are deteriorating quickly.”

He also noted the park has resolved the chemical issue and that the water is well within standards.

But, the sand filters, which were installed in 1989, will need to be replaced.

The life cycle of a sand filter is roughly 15-20 years, Cornelius noted.

“So we’ve definitely got our fill for those filters, so they’ve definitely have sustained and lasted longer than expected, but it’s time to look at the process (of replacement),” Cornelius said.

Board member Lynne Adams asked if the pool’s heater was working.

Cornelius responded that the department is working with a company to make sure the heaters are working “to the fullest extent.”

“Is there some problem with it?” park board member Brent Callahan asked.

“It’s not continuing firing,” Cornelius responded.

According to Cornelius, the company he’s working with will be working on the heaters this summer and the pool will need work done during the off season.

In other business

• The board voted to have its building committee review plans for the Pioneer Park update project.

• It voted to hire a new recreation coordinator.

• The board also voted to hire its summer employees for the upcoming season.

~ By Lance Gideon | Reporter | Published May 23, 2024 in The Morgan County Correspondent

MOORESVILLE — Plans are beginning to change a bit for the updates at Pioneer Park in Mooresville after initial estimates for the project came in at more than $9 million.

During the May 13 meeting of the Mooresville Park Board, park superintendent Phil Cornelius explained some of the changes to the project.

“At the beginning of the year, we went into the build-operate-transfer (BOT) process,” Cornelius said. “With that, (we) brought on Meyer Najem as the construction firm with certified estimators to try to get to a concrete price of what we received.”

Cornelius said it was somewhat expected that the initial price tag would come in higher than expected.

“We have now refined that process down to a more conservative number,” he added. “It’s still a little over our scale of what we believed, but we think with a little more fine-toothed combs and sharpen our pencils and pens, we can get to the number that is equitable for both.”

Under the initial plans, the park would have needed two stormwater management systems.

After reviewing the plans, much of the new structures have been moved around so that there would only be a need for one stormwater system.

The park also shifted the proposed pickleball courts and removed the proposed basketball courts.

“We currently already have two basketball courts in this park,” Cornelius said. “So we saw that as a system that could be added later, or in the future, but our primary focus would be pickleball.”

The pickleball court has been moved closer to the park’s current maintenance building, reduced some of the proposed parking and shifted the future maintenance facility to the north along County Line Road.

Park board member Brent Callahan said he would like to activate the board’s building committee to review the updated plans.

Callahan said he has concerns about the initial estimate for the project.

Cornelius told the board that the initial estimate for the project was more than $9 million.

“We have now scaled that closer to $6 (million),” Cornelius said. “So we have already done a cut of close to $3 million worth of investment, and that’s solely into a lot of the ground infrastructure.”

“I would like to see the building committee look at it all and see if we still want to stay within the BOT, or whether we want to do some of these projects separately without that,” Callahan said.

Callahan added he’d like to see a survey with a topographical map and what is going into the buildings as examples of what he’s wanting the board’s building committee to review.

“I’m having trouble at the present time imagining that they can still come down far enough to meet our existing funding,” Callahan said.

Cornelius responded that the parks initially estimated the project would cost about $5 million, and the project is currently within about $1.5 million of that funding.

Board member Danny Shaw asked if there are any available funds in case the project can’t be further reduced.

“We’re actively seeking all grant applications,” Cornelius said. “I filled out an application, actually, this evening that would bring a few hundred thousand dollars into the project, if awarded.”

The board voted unanimously to have its building committee review the project and cost estimate of the work.

~ By Lance Gideon | Reporter | Published May 23, 2024 in The Morgan County Correspondent

MOORESVILLE — From new amenities and improved facilities, Mooresville’s parks had a busy year in 2023.

According to a report presented to the Mooresville Park Board at its April 15 meeting, some of the new amenities include an 18-hole disc golf course at Pioneer Park, removal of the zip line and installation of new restrooms and purchase of new playground equipment at Old Town Park.

The report also highlights the Mooresville Redevelopment Commission agreement to provide up to $3.15 million for upgrades at Pioneer Park.

“It was our goal to basically do a snapshot of what 2023 looked like for Mooresville parks,” parks superintendent Phil Cornelius said. “So, anybody could pick this up not having a clue about what Mooresville parks is, and at least get a snapshot of who we are and what we’re doing.”

The report also notes that there were 1,240 volunteer hours logged at Mooresville parks in 2023, which helped save the department more than $16,000 in labor costs.

The 2023 report, Cornelius said, would be presented to the Mooresville Town Council and be available for review at the Mooresville Public Library and town government center.

The report is also available online on the “Mooresville Parks & Recreation District” Facebook page.

Old Town Park improvements

During the meeting, Cornelius told the board that the new playground equipment has been installed at Old Town Park.

He also said the department would be installing new concrete for sidewalks in the days following the April 15 meeting.

Cornelius added there would be a “surprise” installed at the park along with the new playground equipment.

The hope is to do a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new equipment at the end of April or early May, depending on how work progresses on final work of the installation.

April 8 Eclipse

According to assistant superintendent Keelan Simpson, the eclipse weekend at Pioneer Park went well.

“We had about 185 vehicles, give or take, (and) we made about $1,100 in revenue over that weekend,” Simpson said. “(We had) 500 (to) 600 people, give or take, for Monday.”

Simpson noted that during the July 4 celebration, the parks can have up to 2,000 people at Pioneer Park.

“We prepared for a lot more, in case we needed it, but I’m glad everything went smoothly,” park board member Danny Lundy said.

5-year park master plan

Cornelius told the board that park staffers are continuing to meet with Troyer Group for the 5-year park master plan.

According to Cornelius, the parks will host a community open house at the Pioneer Park office on May 17 so local residents can learn about the updated plan and offer insight to park staff and Troyer Group.

That day, there will also be stakeholder meetings with Troyer Group, prior to the community open house.

“We do have a survey ready for community input, our goal is to launch that on April 29,” Cornelius said, adding the plan is to keep the survey open through May 17.

In other business

• The board voted to continue searching for a new recreation coordinator for the system

~ By Lance Gideon | Reporter | Published April 25, 2024 in The Morgan County Correspondent