EAST PALESTINE Tree harvesting at park is going well, official says

The city has received donations of concrete and other materials for the skateboard park.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
EAST PALESTINE -- City officials are pleased with the progress of tree harvesting at city park, the first of several activities about to get under way there.
City Manager Gary Clark said Ed Fisher of Lisbon is doing a very organized, clean job of harvesting trees.
He has put up plastic to reduce the amount of dust that could be blown into the park's recreation area.
Council and some residents have expressed concern that harvesting trees would damage the park grounds and disrupt activities.
Clark said he has received a check for $7,349 as the proceeds for the first shipment of harvested trees.
More room: Clark has said clearing some trees will make room for more athletic fields and create more of a safety zone between July Fourth spectators and the fireworks detonation crew.
Councilwoman Margo Zuch, chairwoman of the parks committee, also commended Fisher. She said she viewed the site and was surprised.
She said the job "suits me, and I'm hard to suit."
Projects planned: Grant Springer, parks director, said he should know by mid-April if the city will receive an Ohio Department of Natural Resources grant for renovation of the tennis courts.
He said he hopes that once the grant is awarded, work can begin in May.
Springer said the project will take four to six weeks. He must coordinate the construction schedule with the high school tennis competition in May and the city's July Fourth celebration.
He said the project must be completed before the July Fourth weekend.
"We can't have the tennis court area looking like a war zone for that weekend," he said.
He said if there is a problem with the schedule then the project won't start until after July 4.
Springer also noted plans are under way for construction of a skateboard park. Concrete and some other building materials have been donated, as well as a bicycle and a skateboard to be awarded as prizes during fund-raisers.
Clark also noted there will be enough money generated from the harvesting of park trees to pay for additional baseball and softball fields.
He has bought materials for covered dugouts for the baseball field used by the high school team.
He is securing volunteer labor for construction and plans to have the dugouts finished for the team's first home game April 1.