Small town park repairs await funding

YPSILANTI, N.D. (AP) — In a park typically reserved for camping and fishing, weddings and reunions, grass grew knee high Monday.

After March and April flood waters washed out the roads and part of the park's banks, the ground is too soft to even mow, let alone allow heavy equipment to begin repairs, said Evelyn Rude, Ypsilanti, who helps care for the town's park.

"It's like a cyclone went through it," Rude said.

Kate E. Glaspell park in Ypsilanti is one of the many areas in Stutsman County that floodwaters damaged earlier this year. And like some of those areas, repairs to the park will have to wait until enough funds are available, said Dale Marks, a Stutsman County commissioner.

"The county is strapped too for that kind of funding," he said.

In a typical year, the county allocates $500 for the upkeep and maintenance of the park, Marks said. Any other repairs are typically paid for with donations and completed by volunteers.

"We've cleaned up twigs and limbs," Rude said. "Last year we had it looking really nice."

But $500 isn't enough to repair and raise the gravel road leading to the park. That alone could cost thousands of dollars, said Gene Rude, Evelyn's husband, who mows the park about once a week.

Besides road repairs, water eroded deep trenches that will need filling, Gene said. The park's diving board was under water for weeks. Its parking lot needs repairs. And the park's bathroom is closed to the public, Gene said. To replace the two toilets alone could cost about $4,000.

"As far as where the funding is going to come from — I have no idea," Marks said.

Maybe the park could qualify for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or some other disaster-relief organization, but the county hasn't pursued those options yet, he said.

Until then, the town is relying on donations and volunteer labor to build up the road and fill in the trenches.

"This is going to be a step-by-step process to get that park to where it was," Marks said.

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