LISBON — Columbiana County Park District Board members expressed concerns recently about taking on more property, specifically the cliffs owned by the village of Lisbon in the Logtown Road area.

Lisbon Mayor Peter Wilson attended the recent meeting of the park district to ask if park district commissioners were no longer interested in acquiring the cliffs property or changed their mind.

“We have no money,” Park District Board Vice Chairman Crystal Siembida Boggs said.

“We’re focused on what we have,” Park District Board Chairman Joe Lawhorn said.

Wilson said he was told by the Western Reserve Land Conservancy there would be no cost to acquire the property from the village. He said he understood the maintenance concerns and noted previous board members had been interested.

When the park district acquired the former Kerestes cliffs property, now known as Logtown Stone Quarry Park, board members at the time thought the purchase included the popular cliff-climbing area, but learned it did not. Then it was learned the village actually owned that section. Volunteers from the rock climbing community have been working on installing climbing hooks and clearing the park-owned property so it can be used for climbing.

Lawhorn said his vision is to save a crumbling building and possibly having to find a new office for the park district. The building owned by the county on Maple Street has a leak in the roof. The park district serves over 100,000 people and he said it’s hard to tell them, “oh yeah, we’re going to take on another 41 acres.”

“That brings people to the county. It’s something we should appreciate,” Wilson commented about the cliffs.

The board members agreed to meet with Wilson regarding the property, with Siembida Boggs also saying they want representatives from the Western Reserve Land Conservancy to also attend. Park board members who are no longer there were the ones talking about the purchase. Current park board members need more information.

During a recent village council meeting, Wilson advised council the park district was still deciding whether to take ownership of the portion of cliffs owned by Lisbon where most of the climbing occurs. He said park board members expressed concerns about facing financial difficulties and how they would maintain the property. According to Wilson, the rock climbing coalition already does maintenance of the area, so there would be minimal maintenance for the park district.

Besides Wilson, the board welcomed a roomful of people to the meeting who appeared supportive of the district and offered information. Those attendees included Matthew Smith, Assistant Regional Scenic Rivers Manager for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, Ashtabula County MetroParks Board member and longtime supporter of the Great Ohio Lake-to-River Greenway Trail Charlie Kohli, Friends of the Park members Tom Quinn and Linda Reynolds who’s also involved with the Friends of Beaver Creek State Park, longtime county park district supporter Luke Thompson, who owns land at state Routes 11 and 154 and East Liverpool Mayor Bobby Smith. Siembida Boggs, Lawhorn and newest board member Megan McMaster were all in attendance. Missing was board member David Hughes.

Reports were presented on maintenance, with an issue still affecting the gate at Scenic Vista Park, sponsorships and programs, which McMaster was working on. The board agreed to set the Greenway Half Marathon date on Oct. 4.

The board had received two applications so far for the administrative assistant position and planned to conduct interviews.

Also received were two applications for the open board member position to fill the unexpired term vacated by former board member Tom Butch. A special meeting will be called regarding the recommendation that will have to be made to county Probate/Juvenile Court Judge Tom Baronzzi who will make the appointment.

The special meeting has been set for 11 a.m. Friday to discuss hiring the administrative assistant and make a recommendation for the new board member.

The board agreed to spend $225.91 to have Salem Computer conduct backup of documents as part of a requirement for cyber security.

The board members agreed to get quotes to have business cards made for the board members, with Mayor Bobby Smith offering to pay for the cards and Siembida Boggs thanking him.

Siembida Boggs updated board members on her recent attendance at the Ohio Parks & Recreation Association conference, saying she learned a lot and highly recommended the other board members attend next time.

Matthew Smith talked about the conservation easement at Hellbender Bluff Park and offered programming that wouldn’t cost anything. There was a lot of discussion by all the visitors about everyone coming together and about the beauty of Columbiana County and working on the trails. They also talked about the visionaries who helped build the Greenway Trail and how they’re owed a lot.

The board agreed to change the time of the next three regular meetings to 11:30 a.m. March 10, April 14 and May 12.

mgreier@mojonews.com