City parks to be cleaner and more secure
By Randy Bell
Two actions by the Board of Aldermen should result in neater restrooms at Clinton’s city parks while providing a way to deter vandalism at one of the newest park facilities. The Board on February 3 approved an agreement with Prewitt Contract Services, Inc. (PCS) to provide a full-time janitor to clean the restrooms, and it hired ARS Technical Services to install security cameras at Towne Park, where the new pickleball complex is located.
Parks and Recreation Director Courtney Nunn says she had tried to handle the janitorial work in-house.
“It’s been hard for my staff to keep up with the restrooms at the parks and the other facilities, so the next-best move was to contract this out.”
The City will pay PCS $4,750 per month to clean the restrooms at Traceway, Brighton, Lion’s Club and Towne parks daily, Monday through Friday, with the restrooms at Robinson and Northside parks and the Wood Activity Center cleaned twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. The contract also covers weekly janitorial service at administrative offices, conference rooms and pavilions at the parks.
Nunn says with the City investing money for park improvements, it’s important to keep the facilities looking their best.
“So, as we’re building the parks, we want to make sure that they’re maintained,” said Nunn. “PCS has a good track record of taking care of Mississippi College, as well as the Clinton Public Schools. They have a good reputation around town.”
While the contract is for five days a week, Parks and Rec could find itself, on occasion, needing more janitorial assistance.
“This will be a fofty-hour work week for PCS, but, if we feel like we need extra help on the weekends, then we’ll just have an additional service, as needed,” explained Nunn. “[For] some of the big tournaments that come into town, it may be that they’re so big that we have to add some people to come help.”
ARS, a Flowood company, is being paid $8,200.50 to expand the camera system at Towne Park.
“We already have cameras over at the [Kid’s Towne] playground,” Nunn said. “So, these will be adding to those cameras. It’ll take care of the building at the pickleball courts and the courts, as well as the dog park area and the parking lot up by the fire station.”
The pickleball complex has been open only since October, and already there have been concerns that some people are ignoring the rules aimed at protecting the courts.
“We’ve seen several instances where there are some youth out there roller skating on the courts, as well as some scooters that are making their way to the courts,” Nunn said. “And we just want to keep that traffic off of the courts.”
She says anything with wheels could cause damage to the courts, “making marks and, depending on what type of equipment, it could put some scuffs in the court surface. I know these kids are just trying to find a place to ride their bikes or ride their scooters, but the pickleball courts are not the place.”
Future improvements at Towne Park may include a multi-use path, which would better accommodate bikes, roller skates and non-motorized scooters. A skate park is also planned.
The new installations will enable the City to meet its goal of having cameras in all the parks. Nunn says she and Clinton police will be able to view the cameras live to check on current activities, and they can go back to see older video.
