OWASCO -- County parks are popular as most venues are busier than ever during the summer.

With 34 new employees to manage and a laundry list of 52 events at Emerson Park, within the next month alone, the Cayuga County's Parks and Trails Commission is working hard to address planning.

An example is a Destination Playground which is still in the process of being designed and researched, with various vendors of equipment meeting with the commission.

"We want people to say you've got to go to this playground," chairperson Gary Duckett said.

He added that Leadership Cayuga graduates were eager to come to the commission to discuss planning for this project, along with the Blueprint II group, which has worked hard to provide ideas. After ideas and concepts are agreed upon, the project still has to go through the legislative approval process. Only then can planners go after grant money.

"But this is a terrible time for planning," Duckett said.

He said he was grateful that inmates at the Cayuga County Jail have been able to help get the park in shape for three days this week, noting that seasonal workers need to get used to their duties.

Duckett also has to work on budgeting, with budget projections for 2009 just finished and 2010 and 2011 left to do.

"It takes many hours to do the budget," he said, "because I have to think about what we need and don't need." The accounting system has also been abbreviated, so that it takes more time to get used to new account numbers and descriptions.

The Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum has also been highly active, with 2,790 visitors already this year. Last year's total was 4,000, commissioner Jim Young reported.

Also at Emerson Park, Frisbee golf has taken root. Duckett reported that a league was formed, meeting on Tuesdays, with about 15 carloads of players, while during other days, there is usually a minimum of five cars parked for that attraction. The cost of a game is a $5 Frisbee, with a course laid out for both beginners and more advanced players.

In other news:

* A Giant Hogweed infestation at Sterling Nature Center resulted in a blitz by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Transportation, as each entity sent people to Sterling to fight off the invasive plant.

Commissioner Paul Kelley, highway superintendent for the Town of Sterling, said both DOT and DEC representatives will meet with him on Tuesday morning to begin spraying. The DOT will go off the right-of-way to spray as well.

"It's out of control up there," he said.

Giant Hogweed is between eight and 10 feet tall and has flowers that look like Queen Anne's Lace, but they are about 3 feet across, he said. The biggest infestation covers a 5-acre area.

When people come into contact with this plant's sap, it creates painful, burning blisters within 24 to 48 hours, especially with exposure to the sun, possibly making purple or black scars. Kelley said the state's interest was probably piqued by complaints from workers mowing the stuff.

He added it has been in the area for at least 20 years because it was likely brought in as an ornamental plant and that past attempts to get Cayuga County to eradicate were ignored.