The Trenton Park Board on October 6, 2021, approved allowing Trenton VFW Post 919 to put memorial bricks at the war memorial in Moberly Park.
VFW Commander Tony Ralston spoke before the vote was taken and said the VFW Post is getting ready to renovate its building. The building was built in the 1930s. He noted the renovations would cost about $200,000.
The members are selling memorial bricks as a fundraiser for veterans of any war who were residents of Grundy County. Each brick costs $100, and there can be three lines of letters. The majority of the money raised from the sale of bricks would go to the VFW Post building remodel.
Ralston said the bricks would be put outside, so they could be seen any time. The bricks could be placed at the war memorial at Moberly Park in a half-circle or tilted, and it could be perpetual. Ralston commented some bricks could be placed at the VFW post itself, but the post is limited on space.
He thought about having a walking trail, but he does not want to see people walk on names and once he knew what people wanted, he could find out how much it would cost.
Park Board Member Gary Schuett said he would hate to see a veteran without relatives be forgotten. Ralston said the VFW has a list of deceased veterans, and people could buy bricks for them if they wanted.
The Park Board approved fixing the parking lot at Upper Moberly Park for $4,180 total. The total is made up of $2,100 for asphalt patching the parking lot with 30 tons at $70 per ton, $1,540 for redoing the north entrance with 22 tons at $70 per ton, and $540 for an estimated 200 gallons of MC 800 oil at $2.70 per gallon.
Park Superintendent David Shockley reported he met with Gary Dryer from the Trenton Street Department and figured out how much it would cost to fix the parking lot. That included filling cracks and redoing the north entrance.
Park Board President Curtis Crawford said some cracks are getting big, and they will only get worse. Work could be done this fall. He noted it was recommended to use sealant on the parking lot when the work was done.
Shockley noted a concrete driveway and spray foam at the Park Shop Building likely would not be done this year, and they were items in the budget. Money not used for those two items could be used to fix the Upper Moberly parking lot.
City Council Park Board Liaison Marvin Humphreys said he would talk to the street department about the $70 per ton. He thinks there is some room with the price.
Humphreys commented that people park in the area in front of the pool, and then people park in the middle of the road when letting out children. He reported he almost saw someone get hit by a vehicle one day.
He wondered if signs could be put up about a loading and unloading zone.
Park Board Member John Hamilton said he thought there were parking spots painted in that area, but the lines might be faded.
Humphreys noted he thinks there is a handicapped parking spot in that area.
Crawford said the matter should be looked into before the next meeting.
Humphreys also brought up a dog park for Trenton. He said it was talked about at a city council meeting, and someone else will likely come to the Park Board to present information on it. He thinks the work on the dog park would be done with donations.
Shockley said there might be land available for a dog park in the Lake Park area.
The park superintendent reported he got more bids on concrete cornhole boards. Per set, he noted the bids were $800, $1,134, and $1,600.
At the last meeting, the board discussed possibly installing two sets of cornhole boards at Eastside Park.
Crawford said not much could be done with the cornhole boards with cooler weather coming. He wants to look at the matter at the next meeting.
Crawford talked about TikTok videos where people go into bathrooms and mess up things. He said there were concerns about bathrooms in areas of Trenton’s parks that do not get much use this time of year, but so far there have not been any problems.
Schuett stated he thinks the park department has done a good job with watering and trimming trees. Shockley reported the park department has watered trees by hand weekly throughout the park system. It has also trimmed some smaller trees to make it easier to mow.
Shockley said the park department has begun fall field maintenance on Griffin, Johnson, and Burleigh Grimes outfields. The park department should be done with the outfields this week on the three fields. The infield on Burleigh Grimes has been aerated. Irrigation heads have been replaced that were not working correctly or leaking.
Shockley reported the dugouts at the Ebbe Complex were power washed to remove dirt buildup on their backside.
He said the drainage ditch between the football field and Burleigh Grimes was starting to fill with dirt. The park department cleaned out the ditch to get better water flow. The park department also cleaned out the area behind the Rock Barn where water stands and makes it difficult to mow sometimes.
Shockley said the park department is working on getting new gravel placed around the disc golf pads. Three-disc golf pads are done, and six more are left.
Due to a shortage of some supplies, Shockley is also going through inventory to stock up now on things he usually orders in the spring to get ready for next season.
