Mooresville Park Board discusses vandalism

MOORESVILLE — Recent vandalism at Pioneer Park is costing the Mooresville Parks and Recreation District money as it looks to fix the damage.

On June 29, vandals destroyed a sign at the main entrance into Pioneer Park on Indianapolis Road. The sign was installed earlier this year.

During the July 8 meeting of the Mooresville Park Board, park superintendent Phil Cornelius said the damage to the sign was “to the point of no repair.” “The way that those signs are made, we couldn’t just add the letters back to what it was,” Cornelius said.

He told the board he worked with DG Graphics, which designed and installed the sign, to determine a replacement cost. That cost, Cornelius said, is about $7,370 to replace the sign as it was before the vandalism.

The recent vandalism has also caused damage to dividers in restrooms and railing on the park’s gazebo.

Cornelius was asked if security cameras at the Mooresville First United Methodist Church, across the street from the park, caught the act of vandalism on the sign.

He responded that there is a shadow, but it is difficult to see how many people committed the act.

The town recently approved a contract to beef up security measures at town-owned facilities across Mooresville, and new cameras will be installed that will record the park entrances.

Park board president Matt Saner asked Cornelius if the sign replacement was “an insurance claim.”

Cornelius responded the parks are filing an insurance claim to recoup some of the money for the repairs.

Board member Brent Callahan asked if the other vandalism is included in the insurance claim.

“They are not currently because I don’t have a cost,” Cornelius said.

“We need to work all of those into one event because we still have the $5,000 deductible,” Callahan responded.

Cornelius said the park needs a hard cost to replace the dividers in the bathrooms, but plans to include them on the insurance claim.

Callahan suggested waiting to approve the purchase of the replacement signs until the vandalism is under control.

There was also a suggestion to go ahead and purchase the sign replacement, but for the parks to wait to install the sign.

According to Cornelius, the recent vandalism had occurred in the six weeks prior to the July 8 meeting.

The board approved the replacement of the sign, but for the parks to wait to install the sign at Cornelius’s discretion.

Land acquisition

Also during the meeting, Saner noted the board has discussed land acquisition for the park district. “We’ve talked about the town’s master plan, and community feedback there was more green space, more trails, things like that, right,” Saner said. “The feedback we’re receiving, same kind of thing. And, when you look at neighboring park systems, that’s something that you see expansion over time, right.”

He added that “time is of the essence” when property becomes available. “We need to be prepared, as a board, to move,” Saner added. “One of the things that we can discuss in executive session is real estate stuff.

”The board has scheduled an executive session to discuss real estate for 4 p.m. on Friday, July 19. The executive session is closed to the public.

However, a special meeting, which is open to the public, will occur at 5 p.m. on July 19 at the park headquarters, 1101 Indianapolis Road in Mooresville.

Saner wanted to give Cornelius prior approval to move forward with receiving appraisals on property for the remainder of the calendar year.

For the parks to purchase any property, the district would need two appraisals and it could then offer up to the average of those two appraisals.

The board approved a motion to allow Cornelius to get appraisals, up to $3,000 for a certified appraiser, on potential new property in Brown Township, with approval by the board president, for the remainder of the calendar year.

In other business

• The board voted to continue to move forward with the Pioneer Park upgrade project.
• Assistant superintendent Keelan Simpson told the board the park pool will close for the season on Aug. 4. He also said registration for the park’s RECU before-and-after-school program has already started.
• Talesha Freidenfelt, the park’s new recreation and camp coordinator, introduced herself to the board.

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