Waynesville Park Board Chairman Roger Olney told city council members at their Thursday night meeting that the city park and the city’s RV campground have sustained massive damage from flooding.
While Olney has contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency to see if help can be obtained, the weather continues to be wet and rainy and that’s further delaying recovery.
“It’s amazing the amount of damage you cannot see from the road,” Olney said. “Mother nature isn’t being real cooperative so there’s not much of anything we can do for a while.”
Olney said he understood the decision of the independent Frog Fest organizing committee to cancel Frog Fest 2008 to avoid further damage to the city park, but said something must be done to prevent more cancellations.
A major part of the problem is the electrical system in the city park, Olney said.
Councilwoman Luge Hardman asked about the status and future of the RV park, which was closed by floods that washed away one vehicle whose owner refused to come down from Kansas City to move it.
Olney said he’s not sure the RV park has a future.
“I don’t know if there has been any in-depth assessment of what we would need to do to being it back, or even if we want to bring it back,” Olney said.
City Administrator Bruce Harrill said he’s shown FEMA officials the damage to the city park and the RV park, and said he hopes FEMA can help.
Councilwoman Adele Nickels wasn’t pleased by the report and asked whether it’s true that the RV park makes money for the park department. Olney said it is a money-generator, but not a large source of revenue.
The condition of the park came up repeatedly during other reports at Thursday night’s meeting. Councilman Pat Howe, who chairs the utility committee, confirmed that there’s a critical need to look at utilities in the city park.
“(Electric Superintendent Gary) Wann and Mr. Harrill are both aware of how desperately we need to upgrade the electric in the park. It is just a matter of finding the time to do it,” Howe said.
Howe suggested that the city consider contracting out for labor since city employees are already behind schedule and overworked.
Hardman, who chairs the finance committee, said the floods are generating problems in the $10.2 million city budget.
“Our flooding problems are causing a lot of expense and also we had some major payments this month, fire protection for example,” Hardman said.
Not all of the problems in the Waynesville park system are caused by flooding, however.
Councilman Ed Conley, who chairs the Waynesville Police Committee and is the retired assistant chief of the department, said he’s upset with people who cause damage.
“I went for a walk in the city park over the last week,” Conley said. “I was down by the spring and it just really irritates me the sheer vandalism that people do out there. Apparently a truck or a car severely damaged and hit the bridge over the creek … They had to know they did it and never bothered to report it.”
That shouldn’t be happening, Conley said.
“Our city park staff works hard to keep the park up, and then people tear it up, and that really irritates me,” Conley said.
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