Floyd County Conservation director proposes big improvement projects for county parks

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A wish list including significant upgrades at the Fossil and Prairie Park, Tosanak Recreation Area and other Floyd County campgrounds was given to the county Board of Supervisors Monday morning.

Conservation Director Adam Sears presented the funding request, asking that Floyd County Conservation get a share of the $3.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds the county is eligible to receive.

He presented a list that included almost $220,000 in upgrades at the Fossil and Prairie Park, about $117,500 in improvements at Tosanak, and almost $50,000 for amenities at other campgrounds.

“When we look back in 10 years, it would be nice to see some improvements in campgrounds and parks and the way we spent the money we’d be proud of the things we did,” Sears said.

The supervisors made no decisions or promises regarding the request, although they expressed enthusiasm for many of the projects.

Included in the Fossil and Prairie Park list are several asphalt paving projects, for a bus and car parking area, handicapped-accessible access from the bus parking area to the shelter and restrooms, and a paved easy access loop.

All are designed to make it easier for people who use wheelchairs or walkers and people with strollers to move around the facility, Sears said.

“They’re trying to get through the grassy areas to get to the restrooms and it’s just not working well for them,” he said.

Other expenses include a handicapped-accessible front entrance door with a push-button, a new back door to the amphitheater area, water fountain and bottle filler and a couple of new ceiling fans.

One of the larger proposed expenses at the Fossil and Prairie Park is for a new playground.

At Tosanak Recreation Area, Sears proposed adding electricity, sewer and septic lines and water lines to create 18 additional campsites. He also proposed renovations of the Darling Cabin.

And, he said, there are things needed in many areas, such as new fire rings, picnic tables and site marker posts.

He also proposed installing hand dryers in park restrooms.

“It’s something that we’d really like to see happen,” he said. “There’s a lot of waste that comes with the towels and it’s just a continuous cycle filling them and taking out garbage. It just makes sense.”

Sears said many other counties had already made decisions on spending some of the COVID-19 relief funds, some committing spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on conservation projects, and he wondered if he was late in getting in his request.

“You’re not late,” Supervisor Linda Tjaden said, adding that the only two things the county has committed using the ARPA funds for so far are hand dryers in the new restrooms for the courthouse and asbestos removal in the courthouse, and those were both approved already because the projects are happening now.

County Auditor Gloria Carr said the county hasn’t even set up the application process yet for county departments and other groups and organizations to apply for ARPA funds.

Tjaden said she wants to work with Carr this week to come up with a suggested application process.

Sears said the campground improvements would directly affect county revenue and county tourism, pointing to annual camping revenue that has grown each time facilities were improved.

In fiscal year 2019-20, total income was about $28,500 for Floyd County campgrounds. In the last fiscal year, 2020-21, it was more than $43,000.

Supervisor Roy Schwickerath said the ideas sounded like good potential uses for some of the ARPA money.

Referring to the new cabin put in a couple of years ago at Tosanak, Schwickerath said, “You’ve got some good numbers on what the usage of that has been, and that potential could be out there to potentially do another new cabin. I’m not saying that’s we’ll do, but it sure should be something we’ll look at and say, ‘how does this fit in?’,” he said.

Supervisor Doug Kamm, who was attending the meeting remotely, said it looked like “a geat list to start with,” but he cautioned that the board would also have to look at how proposals add to the county’s overhead, regarding the need for more employees.

“That cost goes on forever,” he said.