Boundary County's new parks and recreation board, (l-r) Angela Hittle, Rob Tompkins, Brandon Glaza, David Brinkman, Lisa Carle, Tim Dougherty and Pam Copeland

Boundary County Commissioners met today with their newly re-formed Parks and Recreation Board, discussing issues and answering questions on the duties the volunteers are tasked with.

"I'm extremely pleased with the makeup of this board," said commission chair Ron Smith. "I believe we'll see nothing but positive results."

Last year, the old parks and recreation was disbanded and their duties and tasks were added to the responsibilities of the Fair Board, as many of the activities of both tend to overlap and sometimes conflict, occuring on the same grounds at the same time. After a year's trial, however, county commissioners became convinced that the range of responsibilities and the diversity of tasks involved in maintaining both entities would be better served by separate boards to maintain the vibrancy of both county programs.

"Merging the two didn't work as well as we'd hoped it would," Smith said. "It put too much on the Fair Board, who had a lot to do in not only putting on the county fair every year, but n maintaining and improving the fair grounds and facilities, which is a year-around job."

The reconstituted Parks and Recreation Board will be responsible for the maintenance and improvements of the county's parks and outdoor sports facilities, including the tennis courts, softball and soccer fields. They'll also resume responsibility for the county summer youth recreation program, which manages organized activities including T-ball, youth tennis, the Hershey track meet, flag football, soccer and more, giving county kids a positive outlet for their pent-up energy on those languid summer days, and giving parents, friends and family a chance to root for their team during the Badger off-season.

Hittle recently managed that program, and brings that experience to the board, and Doughtery has been behind the scenes at county running events, including the Kootenai River Run and the Canine Caper for many years. Brinkman is an avowed sports nut, announcing Badger sports for KBFI radio and doing such insane things as jumping into the Kootenai River in early March, with snow on the ground and ice in the water, to benefit Idaho Special Olympics.

"We're having another meeting Monday," Smith said. "After that, I believe they'll hit the ground running."