NORWOOD – Imagine Norwood with high school baseball and soccer fields, a BMX track, walking trails, a skate park and tennis courts. If you have a vision for Norwood’s recreational future, consider running for a seat on the board of proposed Norwood Park and Recreation District. Signatures also are being collected to put the proposal on the ballot.

The Recreation District proposal replaces a proposal to build a full-scale recreation center in Norwood, which was dropped last spring after the project’s major source of funding, oil and gas revenues, became less of a certainty.

“Much of the operating budget of the larger scale pool project was based on oil and gas revenues,” said Norwood Recreation District Task Force Coordinator John Mansfield, explaining the factors that contributed to the decision to scale down the project for the November ballot. “When we saw some doubt expressed about the continuity of that money, we felt the responsible thing to do was to scale back.

“But, there was still a lot of support for the District. By just establishing the District for the small impact of a single mill – less than $16 a year for a home valued at $200,000 –we can get started on smaller projects, and more importantly we can leverage that money to pursue some larger grant funds that are out there. But first we have to form the District.”

There are several ways to participate in the District process. To sign the petition that is required to put the issue on the November ballot, you must own property within the District boundaries and must be registered to vote in the state of Colorado. To run for a District Board seat, you must be registered to vote in the state of Colorado and reside within the Norwood Park and Recreation District boundary, which is same boundary as the Norwood Library District (the District does not include Montrose County). You can vote in the November election if you are registered to vote in the state of Colorado and either reside within the District boundaries or own property within the District. The election for the District is somewhat unique because property owners can vote even if they don’t live in the District as long as they are registered to vote in Colorado.

One legal condition for forming the District is to elect a board of directors who will help guide the District in selecting projects to enhance the recreational amendments in the Norwood area. Among projects being discussed are walking trails, tennis courts, a skate park and a high school-sized baseball field – something not currently found in San Miguel County despite the growing popularity of youth baseball.

“By law we need a project of focus to get on the ballot,” said Mansfield, “so we looked around and saw that 44 percent of kids ages 5-14 in Norwood are in the baseball program. But when those kids attend high school, they have no place to play. So that jumped out as a project. But we can, and probably will, have more than one project in our sights. It really depends on what the community wants.”

The Task Force already is identifying several grant sources that could bring considerable funding to Norwood once the District is formed, but the first step remains getting the question to the ballot so voters can have a chance to weigh in on the issue.

Submissions for placing names on the ballot are due by Aug. 29; forms are available at Norwood Town Hall, Norwood’s Uncompahgre Clinic, the San Miguel County Clerk’s office in Telluride, or by emailing CJ Watt at ckcwatt@yahoo.com. Those who support the District but don’t want a seat on the board are encouraged to sign petitions at the Norwood Hardware Store and Sam’s Service gas station in Norwood. The Recreation District Task Force must collect 200 signatures on these petitions to place the issue on the November ballot.

– Watch Staff Report