COA director raises parking concerns

St. Joseph County Commission on Aging executive director Pam Riley last week expressed concerns about parking at Oaks Enrichment Center in Sturgis when the city’s new splash pad moves in next door.

Riley brought up the matter during her director’s report at a meeting of the COA advisory board.

She said she had previously met with Sturgis city manager Mike Hughes about the proposed splash pad on Tuesday. Riley said Hughes indicated the COA parking lot and the Doyle Center parking lot would be used for overflow parking for splash-pad patrons.

Riley said plans are for 100 parking spots at the splash pad. COA has another 100 spots and she’s looking into signage to prevent parking in those COA spots.