Bessemer parks and rec holds outdoor meeting

BESSEMER - The Bessemer parks and recreation committee held its first meeting since March on Thursday afternoon at Bluff Valley Park. This was the first time that any of the city's sub-committees and groups have met in-person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting was held under the pavilion with committee members wearing masks and bundled up with coats and hats, maintaining their social distancing by sitting at separate tables.

Terry Kryshak, mayor pro-tem and a member of the committee, said that he thought the meeting went OK, but was uncomfortable with the amount of people in one area.

"I have no idea where everyone else has been," he said on Friday."I feel the virtual meetings are the safest ways to meet, and I think that this morning's news confirms it. You would think that the president and his wife would be the safest people in the world. If we can't protect the president how are we going to protect everyone else?"

The city council will be discussing the possibility of having in-person meetings again on Monday.

During ITS meeting the parks and rec committee decided to take down the sign by the tennis court area, where they now have a skate park. The sign reads "Tennis Courts are for tennis only. Violators will lose park privileges."

The committee also discussed the status of the grant opportunity for the Yale district. A new park was erected, however, the grant also covers some repairs to a few of the houses in the area and those repairs have not been done yet.

The Little Free Libraries, which the committee had been hoping to place at various locations around the city, are on hold until spring. The committee didn't feel it was safe to place them this year, because of the pandemic and the risk of spreading germs by sharing books.

The committee has all the hardware in for the GaGa pit, but they are waiting to buy the wood for it until it is safe to erect the structure.

Finally, the committee discussed the bathroom situation at Bluff Valley Park. Committee member Ron Zaleski said he would like to see a ramp to the bathrooms built and a grab bar installed in the handicapped stalls. However, city manager Charly Loper disagreed saying that if they were to do anything to make the bathrooms more handicap accessible, she would like it to be fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. She will continue to look to see if there is any grant funding to make them ADA compliant.