PIERCETON — The Town of Pierceton is seeking to reinvigorate its Park Board.

The reinvigoration of the existing Park Board is part of an effort by the town to qualify for grant money from organizations such as the K21 Health Foundation, according to Clerk-Treasurer Jerry Kreger.

The idea surfaced after an October town council meeting when Pierceton resident and Whitko School Board of Trustees member Georgia Tenney expressed the need to upgrade playground equipment at Pierceton-Washington Township Park.

“The equipment has remained largely unchanged since its installation decades ago,” said Tenney.

Originally established in 1976, the board included a member from the local school board, a non-voting representative from Washington township as well as several others, Kreger said.

With the addition of other parks in the ensuing years, the town, in an effort to “to streamline things,” decided to take everything over and continue to receive a financial contribution from Washington Township every year, said Kreger.

The Pierceton Park Board members are appointed by the town. Each member serves one to two-year terms. Two members are replaced after one year. The other three members are replaced over the next four years.

The Park Board oversees Brower Park, the Pierceton Skate Park, Pierceton-Washington Township Community Park and the Wetlands Park.

The current iteration of the Pierceton Park Board formed in 2011. It had a hand in several projects over the years such as the Barb Ferris loop of the Pierceton Walking Trails and the 150th-anniversary celebration of the town’s founding.

However, Park Board members have not held a formal meeting since 2012. They are mostly coordinating sporadically via email since that time, said Kreger.

In the first step toward reinvigoration, the town council asked Kreger to send out letters of intent to existing Park Board members. The town is currently waiting for responses from the existing members with the thought they could self-reestablish the Park Board. Kreger said only one member as responded so far.

According to Kreger, the existing parks board members are Chip Hill, Kim Rose, Paula Smith, Cindy Kreger and Annie Espinoza.

If the existing board members decline to participate or fail to respond to the letter of intent, Kreger expects the town council to appoint new members after the first of the year.