Plans for a local service club to create a new park in Oxford Village’s northwest quadrant are progressing.

Last week, the village council voted 5-0 to direct the municipality’s manager and attorney to draft a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with representatives from the Rotary Club of Oxford.

The MOU would outline what’s expected of the village and what’s expected of the Rotary Club as the project advances.

Last June, Rotarians approached council with the idea of creating a public park using two small pieces of vacant village-owned land adjacent to the Polly Ann Trail near Merge Studio and Gallery at 33 Pleasant St.

Rotary is planning to fund its park project by soliciting tax-deductible donations and pursuing grant opportunities.

“We’ve started raising funds. We have some funds for seed money,” said Rotary President Bryan Cloutier, who addressed council.

The properties about the trail on the north and south sides.

The south side is a grassy area just west of the paved parking lot – the address of which is 27 Pleasant St. – that serves Merge customers and trail users. Rotary is looking to create a “passive park” there with “better landscaping” and seating for the public, according to Cloutier.

Cloutier said the Rotary Club has an opportunity to potentially obtain a gazebo as a donation for the south side.

“There wouldn’t be any cost to us other than the cost to move (it) and to pour a slab (for it to sit on),” he said. “It’s a rather large gazebo and it is in very good condition.”

Cloutier thinks the gazebo would be a “phenomenal asset to that area.”

However, the village must research whether a gazebo is allowed on the property in light  of a planned unit development (PUD) agreement between the municipality and Merge that was approved in 2013.

While the agreement specifically mentions “a small park and/or green space” as an “other permitted use” for the property, it also states, “The open grassy area west of the parking lot must be maintained as an unimproved open space. No events may be held in that space.”

“Could we go back and maybe amend the PUD (agreement)? We could try,” said village Manager Joseph Madore, who agreed it would be a “perfect spot” for a gazebo.

On the trail’s north side, the Rotarians want to build a playscape that would be accessible and safe for children with special needs.

Beyond that, the Rotarians have now expressed an interest in potentially partnering with the village to transform 2.71 acres of vacant municipal property in that area into park land.

In the 2016 and 2018 general elections, voters gave the village the authority to sell the acreage, which is divided among three parcels. Madore said this was done “even though there wasn’t ever any plan or intention” on the municipality’s part of selling it.

“There really wasn’t anybody coming to us looking to buy them,” he said.

Cloutier expressed his opinion that “it would be difficult to develop that property” and he’s “not really sure the people in the community really want it to be developed.”

“They want it to be a gem in the community and something that would, in turn, increase their property values, I’m sure,” he said.

There was also some discussion at the council meeting about the possibility of incorporating into the park project a portion of Maple St. that was platted as a street, but never improved for actual use. This part of the street runs between two of the village-owned properties.

Cloutier said while Rotary has no plans at this point to utilize that stretch of Maple St., it didn’t want to rule out the possibility because it could be used to help make a “stronger” case when it comes to applying for grants.

“We want to have all of the options on the table to be able to make this the most successful project we can,” he said.

Cloutier told council “there’s lots of things that (the Rotary Club) could do” in the northwest quadrant but “nothing is etched in stone because we haven’t met with our architects yet.”

In order to do that, Rotary needs to have an MOU with the village in place.

“We definitely would like to move forward,” Cloutier said.

Councilwoman Maureen Helmuth, who lives across the street from the parcels, supports Rotary’s park proposal.

“I love this idea,” she said.

For many years, Helmuth has advocated using the land in a manner that maintains it as open space and preserves its natural features.

“I’d love to see this property cleaned up, but left alone,” she said.

Helmuth pointed out there are already paths runing through the property created by people crossing it on a regular basis.

“Everybody walks those trails,” she said.