TRUMBULL COUNTY 5 Metro Parks to share $20,000

The money is for marketing, not maintenance.
WARREN -- The Trumbull County Metro Parks district has received $20,000 from the coffers of the county's former visitors bureau to promote park activities.
That money was insisted upon by Trumbull County commissioners as an agreement was worked out with a judge for distributing the visitors bureau's remaining dollars.
The money will be used for a marketing program to promote the park system: brochures, print ads and promotional activities for specific events, parks commissioners said Friday.
The dollars will not be used for general operation of the parks. The money's original intent was for promoting happenings in Trumbull County through the visitors bureau.
Each of the county's parks hosts events throughout the year.
Distribution
The five facilities are Canoe City Metro Parks in Leavittsburg; Clarence Darrow Metro Parks and Disc Golf Course in Champion; Foster Metro Parks in Newton Township; and the Western Reserve Greenway Trail in Champion, Bristol and Bloomfield townships.
The Metro Parks' budget allocation from the county's general fund this year is zero. Last year it was about $34,000. The parks board had used the money for expenses such as insurance and maintenance for five facilities.
There is no paid staff; the parks rely on volunteers.
Last month, commissioners and the closed visitors bureau settled on distributing about $168,000 under the auspices of a visiting judge, Thomas P. Curran, in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
The visitors bureau board had filed a lawsuit regarding past funds it claimed were due from the 4 percent lodging tax the county collects. Settlement of the case has been in the works for several months.
In May, commissioners established a new entity, called the Trumbull County Tourism Board, to receive 2 percent of the county's lodging tax. The other 2 percent goes to the Western Reserve Port Authority to run the airport in Vienna.