Niles Parks Board’s next five-year plan underway

Published 9:50 am Monday, July 8, 2019

NILES — Every five years, the Niles Parks Board updates its plans to improve Niles’ parks, river ramps, fields and golf course. On July 2, it released a survey online, on social media and in print to gather information from residents and Niles passersby for its 2021-2026 five-year plan.

The current plan outlines 27 goals and objectives for the board. Some are large and ongoing, like removing the Pucker Street dam. Others are smaller, like providing drinking water stops along the Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail system.

Many of the goals and suggestions came through community input from previous parks board surveys. Board member Ed Thomas said the current survey seeks to find four types of insights about the city’s parks from those that use or do not use them.

“First thing we want to know is what’s the usage,” he said. “Then, we want to find out which ones are gone to most often. Then, what do you need? What do you take advantage of in your area?”

Thomas, who adapted the previous parks board survey to its current iteration, said questions are meant to be open-ended so those filling out the survey can provide insights without restriction.

“We want to give everyone a chance,” he said. “We did not limit them to a list.”

Thomas said this year’s survey has been structured in a way that will hopefully give the parks board specific lenses to address issues through.

First is park use. One of the first questions on the survey asks participants to identify the parks closest to them and the parks they use the most.

“If you live in an area and have a park that’s real close to you, why don’t you use that park?” he said.

That question leads to other lenses to be looked through: demographics and accessibility. Other survey questions ask participants to share their age and the accessibility of Niles’ parks for those of different age groups and abilities.

Thomas said if a park close to a participant is not being used by that participant, it could be because the features offered do not fit the participant’s desires.

He gave two examples: If a child in a wheelchair lived near a park that did not have adequate water fountain heights or playground equipment, that person would not use it. The same goes for a single adult whose closest park may only have playground equipment.

Insights like these help shape both the parks board’s goals to best serve Niles parks attendees and the objectives outlined the future five-year plan, Thomas said. The plan, in turn, will fall in line with the city’s master plan.

“Nobody is going to target any of the parks around the city,” Thomas said. “We just want to find what’s being used.”

The board will tabulate each survey participant’s answers and compare them with one another to help the board identify the largest positives, negatives and wants of Niles’ parks.

The current five-year plan outlines a list of top park concerns that are still being addressed. Included was removing old playground equipment with lead paint.

Playground equipment built before 1978 could contain lead in its paint. While most parks have equipment from the 2000s onward, three parks — Birkholm, Tiny Tot and Eagle Street — still need to be updated. Their equipment is between 35 and 65 years old.

“[It’s] just not good, especially for kids,” Thomas said. “You have to have it remediated. It gets expensive, and we’re always strapped [for funds], so you have to be careful how you remove that.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, lead paint is usually safe so long as it is not damaged. If paint is chipped, lead contaminants could end up in the soil, in dust and on and in people. The EPA recommends that people in possible contact with lead paint keep their shoes on while using the equipment and wash their hands afterwards.

The current plan also notes that most of Niles’ parks score low on the American with Disabilities Act’s Standards for Accessible Design.

These issues, Thomas said, will continue to be addressed by the board and its upcoming five-year plan.

Thomas is addressing a park issue himself. He is personally recreating the informational kiosks that line the Niles portion of the Indiana-Michigan trail.

The 19-question plan survey can be accessed on the city’s website and through many local officials’ Facebook pages. Thomas said community development director Sanya Vitale can also print out the surveys upon request.

The survey is expected to run for 40 days, but it can be extended if needed, Vitale said.