Shelbyville Parks and Recreation Board held their first public meeting Monday to get input for the master plan draft, which is updated about every five years.  

Parks Director Mike Alsup presented his director’s report, and there are a few things the park has accomplished. Alsup began by saying attendance at the facilities continues to approve since the pandemic shutdowns.  

One of the ways they hope to get attendance up is through developing new programs, such as youth soccer (which will end this weekend), youth basketball (which has over 140 signed up), and the new Bedford County High School swim team (whose first meet is Friday).  

“Got a good deal of programming going on,” Alsup said. But, he adds, “Anytime you see a new program somewhere else, let us know. We would like to check into it to keep us up-to-date and offer what the folks want.”  

New lights will be set up on the tennis court as well as the two small baseball fields beginning next week, Alsup said. A new rubberized track floor is going to replace the 25-yearold carpet while new cardio equipment has been ordered since the last Shelbyville City Council meeting.  

Several bids were presented at Tuesday night’s Shelbyville City Council study session for new equipment for the Rec center facility, including outdoor pool mechanical room renovations, new meeting room partition wall replacements, and second floor flooring renovations, combining to total just under $85,000, which is under budget for the city’s budget.  

These bids will be voted on at the next council meeting, which will be 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 9, at the Rec Center on Tulip Tree Road.  

Rain has delayed the playground installation, but it should be completed about the weekend before Thanksgiving, according to Alsup. There are still several things lacking at the parks and the recreation facility.  

One of the biggest items discussed for concern was security.  
Alsup said they’ve responded by adding more police patrols. But board member and Shelbyville City Council member Ricky Overcast said they should implement off-duty officers in addition to park security. “So, if we have to spend some money, instead of having those people run them trucks all the time... You need an officer who can make an arrest,” said Overcast.  

Alsup said they can look to put that into the budget.  

With the current supply chain backing up and labor shortage, a “threat” that was discussed during the meeting included making sure materials and supplies were ordered with enough time. Alsup said they probably won’t get 2021 supplies until 2022.  

But what was seen as an opportunity for the city parks and recreation is the population influx.  

“Change is coming to Shelbyville-Bedford County,” said Alsup.  

“Our population will grow. So, we will either be pre- pared for that and be pre- paring for the future and taking care of those needs, or we’ll be behind the whole.”  

One of the biggest strengths is the recreation facility itself as well as the dozens of acres available for potential park development.  

“I think our buildings are our real strength. We have done a lot of work in the last five or six years here from AC units, gym floor, pool pumps―we’ve spent a lot of money. I really think our facility here is a real strength, but the outside―I would really like to see some more money put in the soccer fields,” said park board member Mark Betzelberger, who also talked about how the soccer fields have to share some of the softball fields and facilities.  

So, on the list of concerns was the inefficient use of field space and need to coordinate more sports opportunities.  

“But to Mark’s point... we’re not just doing a dis- service to the soccer side of things; we’re doing a disservice to softball, to baseball where we have to have a shared facility,” said Charlie Rose who is a girls’ soccer coach at Harris Middle School.  

With only two citizens attending the last meeting, the park board hopes to see more attendees at their next meeting before the draft is finalized.  

The next public meeting date is undetermined but Alsup said it will most likely be at a date before Thanksgiving. 

 For those who cannot attend the meeting in-person, sheets for citizens to fill out with what they would like to see at the parks are available at the Rec Center’s front desk and can be turned in with their comments.