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Public input sought on parks
By Kathy Crawford
A special meeting is scheduled before the Smithville Park Board meeting Monday, July 21, so the board can further explore a proposed athletic field at Smith’s Fork Park, which the city leases from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“We asked Gerry (Vernon) to gather together at one time the architects, the Corps of Engineers, aldermen, the Park Board and residents to get ideas,” said Christy Curry, Park Board president.
The meeting, also known as a charette, will be conducted on a “come and go” basis between 3 and 7 p.m., Vernon said. The Park Board will have its regular meeting after the charette.
“We’re hoping that plenty of residents will show up to share their ideas about the project,” he said.
The proposed project was stalled last year when archaeologists for the corps found a large amount of Native American artifacts in the area that was set for new soccer fields. Tim Meade, archaeologist for the corps, reported that the artifacts discovered are most likely no less than 800 years old, making them prehistoric.
Meade told The Herald last year that he performed about 10 shovel tests, which consist of digging about one square foot of ground down about eight to 12 inches. He said he found fire pits, pottery, charcoal, animal bones and other evidence of permanent dwellings. Meade explained that discovering that many artifacts in a small area was indicative of many more artifacts in the area.
“The chances of me picking the only spots where there were artifacts is about the chances of winning the lottery,” Meade said as reported in October 2007 in The Smithville Herald. “It just doesn’t happen. It means, in my professional opinion, that there are a large amount of Native American artifacts at this site.”
He also said that because of federal law, the city would have to dig to place soccer fields there. The corps informed the city last summer that it would be requiring a Phase II archaeological dig to be completed at the site before any ground can be turned more than eight inches deep.
Consequently, Vernon said that the city can’t do any major dirt work at the location and hopes to generate ideas at the charette on Monday night that will help develop a plan.
“We want a public plan,” he said. “But we want the corps there to make sure our ideas are good ones.”
Smithville writer Kathy Crawford can be reached at 532-4444 or kathycrawford@npgco.com. Smithville Editor Ashley Vasquez contributed to this story.
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“We asked Gerry (Vernon) to gather together at one time the architects, the Corps of Engineers, aldermen, the Park Board and residents to get ideas,” said Christy Curry, Park Board president.
The meeting, also known as a charette, will be conducted on a “come and go” basis between 3 and 7 p.m., Vernon said. The Park Board will have its regular meeting after the charette.
“We’re hoping that plenty of residents will show up to share their ideas about the project,” he said.
The proposed project was stalled last year when archaeologists for the corps found a large amount of Native American artifacts in the area that was set for new soccer fields. Tim Meade, archaeologist for the corps, reported that the artifacts discovered are most likely no less than 800 years old, making them prehistoric.
Meade told The Herald last year that he performed about 10 shovel tests, which consist of digging about one square foot of ground down about eight to 12 inches. He said he found fire pits, pottery, charcoal, animal bones and other evidence of permanent dwellings. Meade explained that discovering that many artifacts in a small area was indicative of many more artifacts in the area.
“The chances of me picking the only spots where there were artifacts is about the chances of winning the lottery,” Meade said as reported in October 2007 in The Smithville Herald. “It just doesn’t happen. It means, in my professional opinion, that there are a large amount of Native American artifacts at this site.”
He also said that because of federal law, the city would have to dig to place soccer fields there. The corps informed the city last summer that it would be requiring a Phase II archaeological dig to be completed at the site before any ground can be turned more than eight inches deep.
Consequently, Vernon said that the city can’t do any major dirt work at the location and hopes to generate ideas at the charette on Monday night that will help develop a plan.
“We want a public plan,” he said. “But we want the corps there to make sure our ideas are good ones.”
Smithville writer Kathy Crawford can be reached at 532-4444 or kathycrawford@npgco.com. Smithville Editor Ashley Vasquez contributed to this story.