Parks department braces for cuts

Christian and Victoria Soderholm examine a juvenile corn snake with nature educator Denise Flora at the Rockwood Park Nature Center. More than 20,000 people visit the nature center each year. As proposed, the nature center could close later this year due to cuts in funding to the county’s parks and recreation department. Page Dowdy/Chesterfield Observer When times are good and there’s more than enough revenue flowing into the county’s coffers, taxpayers don’t need to account for every penny spent or obsess over each line item in the annual budget.

In times like these, with the county facing a $27 million budget shortfall, it’s necessary for its leaders to dispassionately assess the numbers and determine the best solutions for the majority of residents.

Beyond the stark reality of “belt tightening,” however, there is a human toll to looming budget cuts – both directly (job losses) and indirectly (quality of life issues) – that threaten to inflict pain throughout the county government.

Nowhere is this being felt more acutely than in the parks and recreation department, which is being forced to slash both jobs and programs to accommodate a $1.6 million, or 15 percent, reduction in its FY11 budget.

A total of 30 positions (10 full time) are slated for elimination by June 30. The department’s entire outdoors program will be cut, including the popular water-based adventure courses at the Dutch Gap Conservation Area, and the nature center at Rockwood Park will be closed.

To Elli Morris, who has volunteered as a kayaking instructor for several years at Dutch Gap, the idea that the county leaders would gut such a “unique and irreplaceable” program is “completely absurd.”

“I wonder, of the people who are in charge of the budget, how many of them have ever been out there? It’s a treasure, an amazing place, and to get rid of it would be awful,” she said. “I think there are a lot more programs in the county that are fat and could afford to be cut, instead of eliminating programs that directly benefit taxpayers.”

Outdoors programs aren’t the only potential victims of the budget ax, though. The history section also stands to lose all five of its employees, three of whom are responsible for managing the county’s historical sites at Magnolia Grange, the County Museum and Castlewood.

Because the county has no official welcome center, those sites would largely serve as reference points for the thousands of visitors who are expected to flock to Chesterfield next year for both the 400th anniversary of the Citie of Henricus and the sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War.

“It makes no sense to close the doors when you’re going to have God knows how many people coming into the county,” said Liess van der Linden-Brusse, president of the Chesterfield Historical Society. “They’re going to need a place to stay and a place to eat. It’s a unique opportunity to make some money, and my advice is to make the most of it.”

For the second year in a row, the historical society is trying to work out a deal with the county to subsidize its three part-time positions and keep the buildings open. This year, as van der Linden-Brusse noted, the historical society will have to contribute “significantly more” toward the $78,000 in combined salaries than the $13,000 it chipped in last year.

“People have been stashing money away for a rainy day. Guess what? It’s pouring,” she added. “Our board of directors is prepared to contribute to keep the doors open – not forever, mind you, but for the short term. If that means we can keep the doors open for the next two years, so be it.”

Participants in the county’s adult athletic leagues also are being asked to shoulder a greater percentage of the financial burden. Allen Harlow, who represents the more than 200 members of the Chesterfield Senior Softball Association, said the county could opt to close its 11 adult softball fields if it can’t find a way to reduce maintenance costs – which totaled more than $177,000 last year.

For the many seniors who live on fixed incomes, paying a dramatically increased fee to play softball is simply impossible.

“In our league, we have women from 40 years old to men who are 80. They’re lifetime residents and taxpayers in the county. Not only did their taxes pay for fields to be built, but for schools and other things. Now, when things are bad, it’s like ‘Let’s forget about the older people,’” Harlow said.

Harlow noted the health benefits for seniors who are able to get out of the house and enjoy both exercise and social interaction on the softball field.

“We love to play ball, but it’s not cutthroat,” he added. “It’s something we look forward to every year. What kind of country would this be if all there was to life was sitting at home watching television?”

Morris certainly doesn’t want to find out. She’s spent far too much time sharing her passion for the outdoors to simply stand by idly and watch the destruction of a valuable county resource.

“There is some education needed, to show people what they’re going to lose,” she said.

As an employee in the parks and recreation department, Mark Battista has spent the last 22 years of his life educating local residents through a variety of hands-on nature programs. Unless something changes between now and April 14, when the board of supervisors votes to adopt the annual budget, Battista and several of his coworkers will have to find new jobs.

But as he prepares for the worst, Battista still is hoping for the best.

“It’s not over yet,” he said. “There’s an obvious demand for our program, and people are speaking up on our behalf. To do away with the whole thing would be a big loss.”