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Parks Commission Lists Priorities For $2.4 Million In Allocated Funds
Equipment at Gardiner, Kevin Moran parks at top
Bathrooms get attention
By Kara Chalmers
As four parks and recreation commissioners' terms end, something else is ending as well--a lot of labor and discussion over how to prioritize the commission's projects.
On Oct. 18, commissioners finalized a plan to advise the City Council on how to spend the more than $2.3 million in park development funds, money allocated for buying new parks or renovating city playfields and parks buildings.
"This is the culmination of a lot of work," said commission chairwoman Barbara Olsen.
The commission met on Oct. 18 to prepare for its Oct. 26 joint meeting with the council, at which it will present its recommendations.
"The council asked for our priorities," said Olsen, who added that at the Oct. 18 meeting, the commission followed the community wish list created in 1996.
The commission has been working all along on these projects, but made a final priority list for the joint meeting with the council based on what commissioners believed they could accomplish first.
"The issues aren't new issues," said Cary Bloomquist, city liaison for the commission. "They went through everything, crunched some numbers and established a priority list."
The commission allocated $200,000 to its highest-priority project, installing play equipment at Gardiner and Kevin Moran parks. Architects and vendors have submitted drawings and designs but the city has not yet received all contractors' installation and improvement bids.
"We want to move it forward, fulfilling the community's wishes," Olsen said of the play equipment project. "This is something the community has wanted for a long time. We'd like to see something tangible, something actually come to fruition."
The bathrooms at Wildwood and Congress Springs take the No. 2 slot on the priority list and were allocated $130,000 total. Bloomquist said the city will recommend that the bathrooms at El Quito Park, which are not in good condition either, be included in the package. "It makes sense to do all three together," Bloomquist said, "to promote more efficiency and continuity."
However, the commissioners made the El Quito bathroom renovation their sixth priority and allocated $33,000 toward it.
The improvement of city trails in general is the commission's third priority. The improvements, allocated $100,000, could come in the form of retaining walls or resurfacing of trails.
The fourth priority is to make the playfields at Congress Springs safer and to refurbish them. The allocation of $600,000 for this project would entail irrigation upgrades and turf renovation.
The commission will recommend that $1.3 million be spent on the Community Center renovation, which is the commission's fifth priority. Commission members arrived at the figure after choosing between a complete teardown and extensive rebuild of the center and a minor renovation. The proposed $1.3 million will pay for a renovation that is a compromise between the two extremes, and won't include a teardown, said Bloomquist.
The Oct. 26 joint meeting of the commission and the council will be the last for commissioners Kay Whitney, Marianne Swan and Frank Friedrich. Commissioner Elaine Clabeaux has reapplied for a second term.
The City Council will conduct the next round of interviews for new parks commissioners on Nov. 17. The application deadline is Nov. 10, 5 p.m.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
