Playground fight: Round 2

A seemingly innocuous line item on the Crestview City Council’s Feb. 8 consent agenda generated unexpected opposition from Councilman Tim Grandberry.

After five years of fundraisers and pinching pennies, the Parks and Recreation department had scraped together the almost $21,000 needed to purchase playground equipment for Durrell Lee Park, the city’s only major park without a playground. After a complaint from a constituent however, Grandberry, wanted to see the Fairview Recreation Center in Allen Park upgraded before consenting to purchasing equipment for another park.

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City leaders visited the park to assess its condition first hand while Parks and Recreation staff simultaneously addressed some of Grandberry’s concerns.

Administrative Services Director Mike Wing, whose department includes Parks and Recreation, then returned before the council at its March 8 meeting to again request approval for the Durell Lee Park playground equipment.

“This is part of the planned renovation,” Wing explained, noting the park is popular year round, but especially during city league softball season, when “650 kids play an average of 12 to 14 games each at this location,” Wing said. “When you multiply those numbers, it’s a heavily used park.”

While the older kids play ball, there is no playground to occupy their younger siblings, Wing said. The equipment the city selected is “very similar in its makeup to the playground pieces we have at Northview Park and Allen Park,” the latter of which, he noted, has two playgrounds.

Grandberry, however, was not placated.

“I went by and looked at Allen Park,” he said. “There are some things that can still be done there,” including more games and sports equipment.

He then questioned the availability of money in the city’s Recreation Improvement Fund, which is funded from fees developers pay. Some of it could be used to put “more games for kids to play” at Allen Park, he said.

Grandberry suggested eliminating some of the planned playground equipment at Durell Park “and do some things at Allen Park.”

Meanwhile, Mayor David Cadle was working with Police Chief Brian Mitchell to provide new game equipment for the Fairview Recreation Center through funding by money seized from convicted drug dealers. Ironically, some of it came from neighborhoods served by Allen Park. (See accompanying story.)

Improvements to parks are generally made in rotation according to a projects list prioritized by Public Works Director Wayne Steele and Parks and Recreation Director Chuck Powell, Wing said. The list was distributed to the council prior to the meeting.

“We have needs at all of our parks, but we can’t do all of them at one time,” Wing said. “Right now we feel that we need to do improvements to Durell Lee Park.”

“Fix what I have first before spending money on some fru-fru stuff that isn’t needed,” said Councilman Charles Baugh Jr., calling for more equipment at Allen Park as well as repairs at Twin Hills Park. “I say we need to use this $20,000 to fix what we have.”

Councilwoman Linda Parker tempered the discussion, saying, “There is no reason why there should not be playground equipment at Durell Lee Park. If we want to talk about a separate item here — additional games and additions and upgrades — I think we can take it as a separate issue and discuss it. Let’s do one at a time.”

On Parker’s motion, the council unanimously agreed to proceed with the Durell Lee Park playground equipment purchase and installation, acknowledging that it was next in rotation on the Parks and Recreation list of improvements. At the same time, the council agreed to dip into the Recreation Improvement Fund, which is restricted to “expansion, acquisition and improvement” of recreational facilities, to accelerate improvements at other parks.

“I think we need to prioritize some of our needs and get on with it,” summarized council President Bob Allen. “It does no good to sit there and look at our bank account when we can get some things done.”