April 2025 Park Minutes
Minutes for Troy Community Park Committee meeting on April 24, 2025
The Troy Community Park Committee met on April 24, 2025 at the park. Those present were Denice Franken, Selena Smith, Jennifer Whetstine, Mary Winder, Courtney Owens, and Betsy Hinds.
Smith read the minutes from the March, 2025 meeting, Franken moved to approve them as read, Smith seconded, and the vote was unanimous to approve them.
Winder presented the financial report. The Park Committee has $8,038.91 in its account.
Winder brought a Rustoleum product that is a clear protective spray to spray on the trail map sign that has lost some of its laminate coating. She will spray this product on the sign.
Luke Terry recommends that honeysuckle and Japanese hops at the park be sprayed this year. He could do this spraying for $425. Winder will check with him on what to do with ragweed growing along native patch edges.
On April 6, 2025, Jennifer Whetstine made a motion by text to pay Luke Terry $425 to spray the honeysuckle and Japanese hops. Selena Smith seconded the motion. Voting yes were Mary Winder, Jennifer Whetstine, Selena Smith, Denice Franken, Betsy Hinds, and Michael Estes. Motion passed. Winder has let Luke know of the vote, so the job can be placed on his to-do list. It doesn’t look like the spraying has been done yet.
Terry will check on sericea lespedeza in native area later this year.
Smith and others provided an update on the proposed disc golf course project. The group received a $500 donation from Amberwell, and the Troy Recreation Board voted to match the Park Committee’s donation of $3,000.
On April 7, 2025, Courtney Owens made a motion to accept Jake Newton’s bid of $3,400 for making cement pads for disc golf course and installing them, including back fill, leveling, etc. Smith seconded the motion. Voting yes were Owens, Smith, Whetstine, Michael Estes, Mary Winder Motion passed. Selena has let Newton know about this decision to accept the bid.
Smith will make plans to meet with Donnie Dugger and hopefully Newton to flag the locations of the pads and lay out the course route. Then, Smith will get in touch with Logan Merz to find out details on what he will be able to do to help oversee construction of the course. Merz has said he will order disc golf baskets and various signs.
The Libels have arranged for the strip of land they own just west of the park to be appraised, and then they will meet with the county attorney to start the ball rolling with donating the land to the City of Troy.
The goal is to have the disc golf course finished by the Bike Across Kansas event on June 13-14. The Park Committee would also like to host a grand opening for the disc golf course sometime this year, including a demonstration of how to play this game.
Community Service Day for the Troy school students is scheduled for April 25, with a rain date of May 2. The organizers have already decided to go with the rain date due to predicted weather on April 25. The students (first graders, middle school students, and high school students) will work from around 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Elementary school projects include rock snake cleanup, sweep shelter house, pick up trash and sticks, wash playground equipment, benches, and picnic table
Middle and high school projects include move/spread wood chips to playground area and around trees, rake volleyball sand, raise picnic table up north of playground (it has sunk down in soil), and pick up large stalks of ragweed along the edge of the native area and place them in a pile near roadside for city crew to pick up.
Park Committee member Jackie Peden contacted Jim Horner with City of Troy and asked if crew could deliver wood chips to the park, and he agreed to do that. The wood chips have been delivered and are in several piles around the edges of the playground and swing set area.
Adrienne Geiger said they would provide supplies needed for Community Service Day. Jeremy Prudden said it would be helpful if we could bring some of the equipment they would need like rakes, wheelbarrow, shovels, buckets, detergent, etc.
Whetstine contacted Roger Purdy and Jeremy Prudden about the possibility of art students painting a new mural on the restroom building and cleaning the other two walls. She contacted Prudden about raking sand in the volleyball court.
The Troy Community Volunteer Fair was held April 12, 11:00-1:00 at community building. Whetstine and Winder manned the park’s booth. There was not a large turnout, but there were people who indicated an interest in helping with park activities, projects, etc.
The group discussed the volleyball court. Hinds will put in boundary lines and will look into a latch or some way to keep the lid closed on the storage bin. Kohlbe King will check on lowering the net or finding out what we need to do to fix the cranks that are supposed to lower it. There are aired-up volleyballs in the storage bin.
Peden asked Jim Horner if the city crew could spot spray the volleyball court to keep weeds like sand burs under control. He said they could.
The Wellness Committee may want to host a volleyball tournament at the park this summer.
Smith will place the wildflower signs back in native grass patch after the plants are growing better and she can see where the various varieties are located.
Winder reported that the city will be able to continue cleaning restrooms at the park and the shelter house. Peden will ask Jim Horner to redig the trench the crew had put around the shelter house in the past to divert water and mud away from the shelter house floor.
Franken will ask Troy High School ag. instructor Adrianna Bruce if students would be able to sand and repaint the blue picnic table, which was made by THS students years ago. Park Committee could provide supplies, if needed.
Smith will mark trees and limbs with spray paint that need to be removed or trimmed for safety, etc. along the road through the park She will visit with Horner to see if city crew might be able to do that tree work. Winder will let Troy Mayor Micheal Brissett know about this prospective tree work in the park.
Smith learned that she was approved for the Plant-a-Prairie program, and she will be working with a first grade teacher this fall to plant prairie plants at the park.
It is unknown if the Park Committee will still receive its $2,500 allotment for 2025 in addition to the $3,000 pledged for the disc golf course.
Whetstine will visit with Holly Uplinger at the Troy Library about story hour in the park this year. The Park Committee has prizes the group could put in bags for children.
Winder will make a note of grants that could be possibilities for park projects including Rainbow Communications grant and T-Mobile Hometown grant.
Smith moved to adjourn the meeting, Whetstine seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. The next meeting of the Troy Community Park Committee will be May 22, 2025 at 6 p.m.