Last night, as both county-wide Parks and Animal Control millages passed handily. “I think it shows the county leadership has been responsible in being out front and honest with people about what we were going to do, and now we’ll step up to the plate and take care of business.” Jackson County Commission Chairman Steve Shotwell said.
Chairman Shotwell credits supporters of the Animal Control millage for coming out to the polls, and pitching in support for the Parks proposal as well. “They (animal control supporters) were helpful with us in the parks also,” Shotwell said. “It’s been kind of a quiet campaign going door-to-door, a lot of footwork done, but also social media kind of burned up the last two weeks over both issues.”
Shotwell praised the County Commission for their stewardship, and mentioned that the polls reflected that opinion in the community as well. “The community stepped forward and said that the county is going in the right direction and you’re doing the right things.”
So, What Now?
Now that the millages have passed, what’s the plan? Chairman Shotwell gave us a big to-do list that the county has. “The parks system will be rehabbed to the point that we can utilize all of our county parks. They’ll be barrier free, the kids will be protected, they’ll have new play equipment, a lot of the waterfronts will be cleaned up. We’ll start the process of putting in, similar to Teft Road and Weatherwax, the restroom facilities that are completely self-contained that are designed to take the abuse that happens when you have something year-round that’s available for the public to use. You’ll also see a tie in with the water trails and the biking trails. You’ll see some quality maintenance happen at the Cascades.” Shotwell said.
As for Animal Control, “Our idea was to hire three animal control officers to assist law enforcement in dealing with animals running at large, to control and handle that.” Shotwell said.
