By Adam Studzinski

BLOOMIGNTON – Bloomington’s Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts Department hasn’t been held out of conversations the city has been having regarding budget cuts.

Parks and Rec Director Jay Tetzloff told WJBC’s Susan Saunders the city has discussed cutting roughly $150,000 from the department’s season salaries fund.

“The majority of those guys are the ones who are doing the mowing,” said Tetzloff. “Right now we get to every park in about a seven day cycle. So, not every week, but almost every week we get to every park. If we cut $150,000 from this line item then we’re getting to every one in three weeks.”

Podcast: Listen to Tetzloff’s conversation on WJBC.

Tetzloff said these workers take a lot of pride in the parks they maintain.

“To drive by a park and go, ‘Well, I’ll get to you next week.’ That’s hard for them too,” he said.

Tetzloff added closing O’Neil Pool has also been discussed by the city.

“From a maintenance perspective, it’s a 40-year-old pool and it’s struggling. It has a lot of maintenance issues. It’s hard for us to maintain,” said Tetzloff. “But on the other hand, it’s located in an area that needs to have a thing for kids to do.”

Bloomington’s Budget Task Force is working on ways to reduce a multi-million dollar deficit in the city’s budget.

Adam Studzinski can be reached at [email protected].