Martinsville Council Discusses Full-Time Parks Job and $20,000 Offer

Martinsville City Council | October 14, 2026

Article Summary: The Martinsville City Council discussed creating a full-time parks position on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, after Martinsville on the Move indicated it would pay a $20,000 annual salary for the job. No action was taken.

Full-Time Park Employee Key Points:

• Martinsville on the Move would pay a salary of $20,000 a year for the position, with the minutes recording the split as “10 from Changing Hand and 10 from Lynn Park.”
• Council members discussed the need for the position to pay for itself, through tournaments, concessions and eventually grants.
• Duties raised included assisting with the Block Party, organizing the Splash Pad, snow removal and hanging Christmas wreaths.
• Mayor Robert Lovell is to contact Robinson and Charleston about their employee program; the Community Block Grant was named as something to look into.

MARTINSVILLE — The Martinsville City Council on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, discussed creating a full-time park employee position and how it would be funded, after hearing that Martinsville on the Move would pay a salary of $20,000 a year for the job. No motion was made and no vote was taken.

The item was posted on the agenda as a discussion item — “Discuss full-time Park employee and how this position would or could be funded” — so the absence of a vote is consistent with the posting. Unlike the fire hydrant item earlier on the same agenda, this one was never styled as a consideration and action item.

The minutes record the proposed salary as $20,000 a year and the source of it as “10 from Changing Hand and 10 from Lynn Park” — figures that, read as thousands of dollars, sum to the stated salary. The minutes do not identify Changing Hand, and do not describe Martinsville on the Move’s relationship to the city.

Council members discussed the need for a way for the employee to pay for itself, by working tournaments and concessions and, hopefully, grants one day. The person could assist with the Block Party, serve as Splash Pad organizer, handle snow removal, hang Christmas wreaths and similar work, according to the minutes.

Lovell said he would talk to Robinson and Charleston about their employee program for the position. The minutes do not say what Robinson and Charleston are, or what the employee program consists of.

The hours per week and the money spent would need to be weighed, the minutes record. Someone is currently working limited hours, with Martinsville on the Move paying up to 100 hours worked. The Community Block Grant was raised as something to look into that could fund the position.

No job description, hourly rate, weekly schedule, start date or cost to the city appears anywhere in the record, and the minutes record no estimate of what the position would cost beyond the $20,000 figure Martinsville on the Move would supply. The current limited-hours worker is not named.

Separately on the same agenda, the council approved the minutes of a special meeting of the Parks Committee held Sept. 23, 2026, in the same motion that approved the Sept. 23 regular meeting minutes. Nothing in the record connects that committee session to the full-time position discussion, and the Parks Committee’s own minutes were not part of the material distributed for this meeting.

The motion to approve both sets of minutes, made by Hill and seconded by Craig, carried with all six aldermen voting yes.