LISBON — The Columbiana County Park District is looking for a new board member after the unexpected resignation of longtime board member Dottie Betz.

On Tuesday, Betz emailed a letter to the board announcing her intention to resign effective immediately, with board members accepting the resignation at their meeting Tuesday night. Betz did not attend.

“My accomplishments on this board are many and I’m very proud of how far we have come since I became an official member in 2000. Good luck with any future endeavors,” she wrote.

A Wellsville resident, Betz had resigned once before, but then came back on the board after changing her mind. During her time on the board, the Little Beaver Creek Greenway Trail opened and new sections of trail were added.

“She’s a whole lot of the reason that we have the section to Washingtonville,” Board Chairman Eileen Dray-Bardon said, adding that Betz also helped with the new section east of the village of Lisbon along state Route 154.

Dray-Bardon said they’ll notify county Probate Court Judge Thomas Baronzzi about the opening, since he appoints the member, and asked her fellow board members to think of anyone who may be willing to serve. She said they want someone who has the best interest of the parks in mind and who has the time to commit. The position is unpaid.

If anyone is interested, she said they can call the park office at 330-424-9078.

In other business, board members discussed the recent revelation that their purchase of the Kerestes property through the Western Reserve Land Conservancy did not include the popular climbing cliffs area. Turns out, the village of Lisbon owns the cliff face while the park district owns the top part, not the actual cliff where climbers climb.

Park district board members learned more about their new 29.9 acres of land outside Lisbon during a walk in the area last month with a member of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, with Dray-Bardon saying it was a bit of a shock. She also said it came as a shock to a member of the Ohio Climbers Coalition, Norm Swann.

Dray-Bardon explained that he had gone to the village many years ago and was told the village did not own the cliffs, so the thinking was that the cliffs were part of the Kerestes family property. He began to pursue it, Western Reserve Land Conservancy became involved, then the park district.

Even though the new park property doesn’t include the cliffs, she said it’s still a nice property, it’s just not what they thought it was.

Vice Chairman Tom Butch reported that he met recently with Swann and part of the quarry area is on the park property, with a cliff that hasn’t been developed for climbing, but they might be able to develop it. If the Western Reserve Land Conservancy approached the village of Lisbon about selling the popular cliffs to them, he questioned if park board members would be willing to accept the property.

“It’s a historically significant property,” he said.

Dray-Bardon stressed there would need to be a formal proposal that shows exactly what they’re getting and where the property begins and ends.

“We should have known,” she said regarding the Kerestes property.

No formal action was taken, but board members appeared to be in favor of the idea. Other board members in attendance included Dave Hughes and Crystal Siembida Boggs.

mgreier@mojonews.com