Jesse Rothacher was hired recently by the Tuscarawas County Commissioners to fill the county's new park manager position. 

NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) - The Tuscarawas County Commissioners are taking a step into restoring a position to help coordinate and manage the growing park systems in the county. 

The commissioners recently hired Jesse Rothacher as park manager at a salary of just over $35,000. Commissioner Joe Sciarretti says as part of his job description Rothacher will have to coordinate a variety of projects. 

“At one point in time, Tuscarawas County had a park manager. As we are starting to really close in on the gap for the Towpath and a lot of the side connectors that you hear about, if it’s the Panhandle Passage, East High Trail corridor, certainly Dover’s riverfront and New Philadelphia’s riverfront now, there’s just a lot there,” he says.

Sciarretti says merging with other recreational partners will be a positive for both.

“The expectations of that person is that they’ll not only collaborate but they’ll calibrate their activities around what those local activities are doing so there’s a synergistic effect. The county is able to maybe call in some of its resources to help some of these local groups that have done tremendous work,” he says.

Rothacher officially began his duties as park manager Monday.  

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