The $8,000 requested by the Russellville Parks and Recreation Department from the Logan County Fiscal Court was brought up again this week - but very briefly.

District 5 Magistrate Jo Orange brought it up at the end of Tuesday's meeting, asking if the court needed to take some action concerning the request.

The response was a collective shrugging of the shoulders of the other magistrates. It was clear the decision was already made. Logan County won't be putting any more than its $12,000 pittance into the park this fiscal year.

And that's a shame.

If you look at the sign at the park's entrance, you'll notice it reads “Memorial City/County Park,” but make no mistake - it's actually just a city endeavor.

Russellville carries the majority of the burden involved in the upkeep and improvement of the park. During the last fiscal year, the city poured $167,000 into the park.

For the most part, I think the city does a pretty good job of making the park a nice place for children and adults alike to spend time and enjoy themselves.

But it could be so much better.

It doesn't take a visionary to imagine just how nice the park could be if the county government would take more of an interest in the facilities there.

Want to see what a really great city/county park looks like? Just drive down to Franklin and check out theirs.

The park itself is beautiful and the little league ballfields are plentiful and top-notch.

That's the kind of thing that can be accomplished when county government takes an interest in the park.

The Simpson County Fiscal Court allocated over $213,000 in its last budget to go toward the Franklin-Simpson Park.

That's why that park is so nice.

It's not like Simpson County is alone in caring about the recreational facilities in its community.

Ohio County has it's own county-run park outside of Hartford. The fiscal court there spends over $270,000 per year on its park.

I'm not saying the Logan County Fiscal Court should invest that kind of money in the park.

But think about how nice the facilities there could be if the fiscal court matched what funds the city put in.

It's not as if the county can't afford it.

Thanks to the 0.75-percent occupational tax (which is paid by anyone who works in Logan County - including the city of Russellville) the Logan County government has well over $2 million sitting in a reserve fund.

It would be nice to see some of those tax dollars reinvested in the community by way of the city/county park - which, as the name implies, is used by city and county residents alike.

- OJ Stapleton is the editor of the News-Democrat & Leader. Contact him at edit_ndl@bellsouth.net or 726-8398.