Rathje begins new duties

BY CINDY TOOPES COURIER STAFF WRITER

May 09, 2008 12:26 am

— OTTUMWA — Gene Rathje loves parks and recreation so much he earned three academic degrees in those areas and chose them as his career.
Rathje is the city’s new park and recreation/The Beach Ottumwa manager and began his duties Monday at his office at the city’s water park.
Although he’s busy cleaning and organizing things, Rathje has taken time to look at the city’s park system. He’s impressed.
“Ottumwa’s acreage is great. It has 533 acres of parks,” he said Thursday. “The National Park and Recreation Association says the average is one acre per 100 residents. Ottumwa has 2.7 acres per 100 residents.”
Parks are a quality of life issue, according to Rathje. Parks, recreation and trails can lead to economic development because a company searching for a new site will check for those opportunities.
Rathje said he’s very interested in extending the trails system within the city.
He’s also studying the city’s long-term park plan and noting improvements that can be done now. The need for more playground equipment has caught his eye and crews are busy with mowing and trimming.
“We’ll make a concentrated effort to follow the long-range plan,” he said. “The city has lots of green space and as we have the money we’ll develop the system.”
All this optimism doesn’t mean Rathje thinks the park system is perfect. He can “see there is room for improvement.” For one thing, he wants to plant more evergreens in the parks.
“Crabapple trees have pretty blossoms but the trees are deciduous,” Rathje said. “Evergreens are green all year and they make a windbreak.”
He wants to plant red pine, white pine and spruce trees.
Rathje’s main focus now is The Beach Ottumwa, which will open May 24, weather permitting. Staff is repairing, cleaning and repainting the 16-year-old building.
“It’ll be beautiful when it opens,” he said.
The Beach is one of the biggest water parks in the area, he added. Some park systems don’t even have a pool, but The Beach has a rectangular one, a wave pool and a play area.
“And, I want to improve the customer experience at The Beach,” he said.
Rathje is also concerned about theft at The Beach and people getting in late at night.
“Things will be more professional now,” he said.
Rathje said he will be writing grants and working with the City Hall staff.
“I’ll be taking some of the load from Larry Seals, the public works director, and Chris Cobler,” he added.
He’s pleased City Administrator Joe Helfenberger has shown support for parks and recreation.
In his April 28 staff report, Helfenberger said Rathje’s position will also take some workload from the finance department.
Rathje said he’s a certified pool operator and swims recreationally. He’s also “done a lot of pool maintenance.”
Janet Richards, the city’s human resources manager, said Rathje previously was the park supervisor for Waverly for six years. Before that he was the director of parks and recreation in Perryville, Mo.
Rathje has a master’s degree in recreation and park administration from Western Illinois University; and a bachelor’s degree in community recreation from the University of Iowa.
Leadership in the parks system shifted after Bill Perry resigned March 11, 2005. The position wasn’t filled.
The city hired Bob Davis in August 2005 and the parks duties were assigned to him. Then Davis resigned in January 2007.
On July 1, 2007, Seals was named public works director and some of his duties included leadership of the engineering department and parks.
Cindy Toopes can be reached at (641) 683-5376 or via e-mail at cindy@ottumwacourier.com.

Photos