Trumbull County Commissioners say they want to keep Metroparks open, will vote on funding

Time is winding down until the July 1st deadline for Trumbull County Metroparks to get the money they need to function over the next six months.

"If we get $65,000 we can at least move forward and get us through the rest of the year. Maybe not at a hundred percent but we'll be able to get through," Randy Fabrizio, Trumbull County Metroparks President said.

At a commissioner's workshop, Commissioners Tony Bernard and Rick Hernandez expressed they were on board with keeping the parks open, acknowledging they slashed the Metroparks budget by more than half.

"We need to keep our parks open and we need to keep the grass cut and we need to keep the bike trails open and stuff like that," Bernard said.

Now, the county has brought in over a million extra dollars and they're willing to give the parks what they need.

"It's not a lot of money, it's $65,000 so we'll either take it out of the contingency fund that we have some money in there or out of there," Bernard said.

Commissioner Denny Malloy was not in attendance but told 21 News over the phone he too, wants the parks to remain open.

Malloy's concern however, is making sure work is being done correctly.

Fabrizio is optimistic about the encouraging response from commissioners, but knows it still has to be put to a vote.

"Hopefully we can move forward and keep the parks open and do the jobs we're supposed to do," Fabrizio said.

Commissioner Denny Malloy believes it should pass without an issue.