WARREN — Trumbull County MetroParks is expecting to reduce its general maintenance and mowing activities in the coming season in order to keep within its $95,000 annual budget, which also pays for the department’s only employee — the director.

Executive director Zachary Svette said rather than mow each of the six parks once per week or every other week, independent contractors will use a brush hog to clear vegetation once per month in each park, except in Clarence Darrow MetroPark, where contractors will use the brush hog twice per month, Svette said.

When Svette became the director, the fledgling park system was operating on $75,000 per year in allocations from the Trumbull County commissioners.

When the oil and gas industry had a short-lived boom in Trumbull County, royalties were allocated to the parks system, boosting the budget.

“In 2010, we received about $18,000 in oil and gas revenue, now we get less than $5,000 a year,” Svette said.

When the revenues began to decline, the commissioners allocated more money to the park budget, raising the annual budget from commissioners to $95,000 per year. Grants have helped complete other improvements in the parks.

Comparatively, MillCreek MetroParks had $11.4 million in income in 2019 from a property tax levy that brought in $7.9 million, funds raised through park activities, grants, $69,500 in gas royalties and other sources, including donations.

Svette said it is “apples and oranges” to compare the two park systems because of the centralized nature of the Mill Creek system, while Trumbull County’s parks are spread out over the county.

Svette said many other park systems have bigger departments, not only to keep up with maintenance, but to make improvements, create programs, cover capital expenses and expand parks.

“Toledo has 200 employees and a $20 million budget,” Svette said.

Mill Creek in 2019 had a $5.5 million payroll, spent $2.9 million on materials and supplies, disbursed $2.2 million in capital improvement expenses and used $286,400 on capital equipment purchases, according to the annual report.

When the oil and gas royalties began declining, Svette had plans to reduce mowing and maintenance as described, but the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office was able to step in and offered to allow its supervised inmates to take on mowing for free.

However, the sheriff’s office is unlikely to have the capacity to assist this year because of renovations going on at the jail. Inmates will be moved within the facility and housed in differing pods as security systems are upgraded, and corrections officers will have to accompany the contractors completing the work.

Svette said he completely understands why the inmates likely will be unable to help, and he appreciates the years Sheriff Paul Monroe helped MetroParks when he could.

In order to prepare, Svette is submitting a budget to his board that allocates $2,500 for the brush clearing, compared to the $13,000 in mowing MetroParks was spending before the inmates took over, he said. The budget slashes allocations for park maintenance from $15,000 to $11,000, allocations for portable toilets from $4,400 to $3,300 and refuse services from $1,500 to $840, Svette said.

That means portable toilets will be available for fewer months in the parks and less basic maintenance will be completed, Svette said.

Because of the stewardship of the board, there are reserved funds to handle culvert replacements and other emergency repairs, Svette said.

“Even with all of what we have been doing, we haven’t been able to complete all of the maintainence we want to do, and now we are going to be maintaining even less,” Svette said. “We could have five full-time guys and still have work available.”

However, if a property tax levy the board overseeing MetroParks is considering is placed on the November ballot and approved by voters, Svette said it could bring in nearly $2 million.

That would allow MetroParks to up its maintenance plans, improve its existing parks, develop properties purchased eventually to become park land and eventually to work with townships and cities to see if they want help bringing their parks under the MetroParks system.