When it comes to millage proposals, we’re all about reasonable requests and community needs.

To us, that’s what the Oxford Township Parks and Recreation Department’s 10-year, $2 million bond proposal represents.

We strongly encourage Oxford residents to vote YES.

This bond would allow the department to repair, replace and improve things in all four of the township’s parks.

Our parks system is aging and it’s heavily used. Own anything long enough and, sooner or later, it’s going to need some tender loving care. That’s true for houses, cars, even parks.

Nothing in the bond proposal could be called extravagant or characterized as wasteful. The bond is designed to restore the parks to their former glory by fixing up what’s already there, from parking lots and pavilions to boardwalks and the boat launch.

It’s also meant to enhance the overall recreational experience through the addition of amenities such as fishing piers, pavilions, an outdoor ice-skating area, concrete tee pads for disc golf, bocce ball courts and horseshoe pits.

All four parks would also receive improvements designed to increase handicap accessibility. That’s crucial to us. Every single person should be able to visit, enjoy and utilize our parks regardless of their physical limitations. If they can’t, then they’re not truly public parks.

The 0.27-mill tax being requested to pay off the bond debt isn’t excessive or out of line.

In the past, we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye with Parks/Rec. Director Ron Davis. We’ve opposed some of his plans and urged the community to put the brakes on whenever we felt he was going too far.

But we can definitely get on board with this proposal. We agree with Davis when he said, “It’s not a want. This is a need.”

Nice parks help make nice communities. They entice people to move in, especially young families, and bolster property values. They give children places to play. They keep people of all ages active, healthy and in touch with nature. They give us open spaces to gather and connect with each other.

We love our parks, so we wholeheartedly encourage Oxford residents to vote YES on this $2 million bond proposal to keep them looking sharp and make them more user-friendly for everyone.