Politics & Government

Improvements, Conservation and More Big Plans for Bath Parks

The Bath Township Park Board held its first State of the Parks Address Thursday night at the Bath Nature Preserve.

Last year was a productive one for the Bath Township Park Board, but this year will be even better.

At Thursday night's first State of the Parks Address, board members talked about the year ahead, and upcoming projects in the parks.

Assistant Service Director Mike Rorar talked about several projects coming to the parks this year:

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• The dugouts at the Bath Baseball Park will be completed to include shade and a better enclosure. Also, the walkways to fields two and three will be paved.

• The Parks Department received a grant to build and install an observation/fishing deck around Bath Pond. The grant pays for half of the project and will allow park goers to fish, but not boat.

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• The department also received a grant to restore the Garden Bowl, which sits in the Bath Nature Preserve near the University of Akron Field House. About 100 years ago, the Garden Bowl was drained of its water for agricultural purposes. When it rains, the bowl starts to fill again but is always drained because of ditches that were dug alongside of it, Rorar said. The department plans to seal off the ditches so that the water stays in the bowl and creates a small wetland. Parks crews will then add water plants to create a habitat. The water in the bowl will only ever get about 3 feet high, Rorar said.

• Rorar also has plans to improve the South Woods nature trail. That is a hiking trail only, and he hopes to add limestone to the path.

Gary Smith, biology professor for the University of Akron, talked about the research his students are doing, including tracking coyotes, and looking at how humans impact the natural landscape.

When his students catch coyotes, they equip them with ear tags and GPS collars to track their living habits. Smith said the collar helps his students see where a coyote's home range is, and watches its hunting habits. The data the collar collects is then sent as a text message to a University of Akron computer where it can be analyzed.

Roughly 35 coyotes have worn the collars, and sadly many of are hit by cars. The lifespan of the collar is one year, and when a year is up, the collar has a release mechanism to detach itself from the animal so researchers can find it, refurbish it and attach it to another collar.

Announcements:

• The Park Board is still looking for volunteers for Bath Community Day.


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