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Minooka Park in Jemison purchased a commercial grade lawnmower on Thursday that will help with upkeep at the park.

The Chilton County Commission approved during the regularly scheduled meeting on June 10 to allow Minooka Park Manager Gerald Arrington to purchase a commercial grade lawnmower.

The commission voted to give $7,400 to Arrington from the Minooka Park funds.

Arrington purchased a Kubota Zero Turn Mower on Thursday from Clanton Tractor and Equipment and is excited about having a larger piece of equipment to help out in upkeep at the park.

Prior to purchasing the lawnmower, Arrington and park helper Randall Bice cut more than 7 acres of grass at the park with Arrington’s personal lawnmower once a week during the summertime.

“It took us a lot longer to cut,” Arrington said. “What we were using was a walk behind mower and it took a long time. Sometimes when we would finish up and get everything done it was time to start mowing again.”

Arrington said he decided on a commercial grade zero turn riding mower due to needing a mower that can withstand the surface at the park.

“The amount of grass we cut has definitely increased since we added the campground area,” Arrington said. “The campground has some rough areas in it with a lot of rocky soil and we need something that can be tough to withstand what we are cutting.”

Arrington said depending on the weather each week, the grass is usually cut on Wednesday or Thursday when the park has fewer customers.

“We don’t like to cut the grass when we have people staying in the campgrounds or we know there will be a lot of people here so we cut when we don’t have as many people around,” Arrington said. “We cut some of the areas at the park like the dam of the lake and it ends up turning out to be a lot of grass during the summer.”