Disc golf course to get handmade seating

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Those planning on playing the disc golf courses in Henry County this coming spring can also plan on having a few places to sit, thanks to a local Eagle Scout.

Scout Kallin Crile officially presented his proposed service work project to the Henry County Conservation Board during their monthly meeting on Monday night and gained their approval to go ahead with his plans.

?I am planning to build seven benches,? said Crile. ?Once the ground thaws out, I will be putting them in.?

According to Henry County Conservation Director, John Pullis, the benches are a welcome addition to the disc golf courses as many players have requested benches on the courses since they were first created. Pullis also assisted Crile in mapping out where each bench could be placed.

With Crile?s bench project in the early stages of development, the board was pleased to mark a separate project as completed. A project to perform some electric upgrades to the South Shore campground is done to the tune of $1,500. And while Pullis says he is happy with the work that was done, he did inform the board that not all the project?s original plans were carried out.

Late last year, to help alleviate the amount of issues with the South Shore Campground?s electric, the department hired Mt. Pleasant Electric to rewire their system in the campground to allow for more power usage. In addition, the department planned to raise the electric disconnects, so as to keep them better protected from floods. In the past, the disconnects had been victims of flooding.

?We didn?t end up raising the disconnect boxes like we had originally planned,? said Pullis. ?After the electrician rewired the system and looked at them (the disconnects) more closely, we found out it would cost about $400 more per box to raise them. And according to him, they looked to be in really good shape despite the multiple floods they had already gone through.?

And with an approximate 3.7 percent increase in the FY 2016-2017 budget, it?s not a surprise that the board is looking to save some money where they can afford. While looking over the fiscal year?s budget, which Pullis will soon be presenting to the Henry County Board of Supervisors, he pointed out the two major items that were attributing to the slight increase in budget demands.

?We have the cost of the law enforcement academy to consider as well as the start up costs for the online camper registration,? Pullis explained, with the academy costs referring to the recently hired Henry County Conservation Park Ranger/Naturalist, Trenton Hoekstra, who will be entering law enforcement academy training upon approval from the county supervisors.

In other news, the board also approved the following items:

? The Henry County employee handbook

? Cari Nicely?s monthly naturalist report

? Claims for the month of December

The next Henry County Conservation meeting will be held on Monday, Feb. 8, at 6 p.m., at the Henry County Conservation Office.