Linn aldermen at a special meeting held last Tuesday night gave Mayor Dwight Massey the green light to sign a resolution to move the all-inclusive park to the Linn City Park. Community and park board members met with the board to discuss replacing the existing playground.
Massey was enthusiastic about the opportunity. “Our job is to build a community,” he said. “A place where we all want to live, and to me, that is parks. That is a pool. That is the streets. That is sewer and water and clean properties. As soon as we stop growing, we go backward. We should do it because we need to move forward.”
About $200,000 has been raised in the 18 months to build the all-inclusive playground that has a total budget of $350,000.
“Our current location, where we were looking to build, because of the ease and convenience and location, was at the Linn Lions Park, and we still have that as an option,” Tracy Winslow explained. “But it is privately owned, and even though it is a not-for-profit, it limits us on the grants that are available.”
Winslow and other community members have their eyes on a grant from the Department of Natural Resources for $250,000 to $500,000, which requires that the structure be built on public lands.
The playground currently at Linn City Park is about 20 years old and will need to be replaced within the next several years.
“You have a structure that is out of date and you don’t have the funds to replace it,” Winslow said. “Let’s put our ideas together and put in a playground that will take care of both needs.”
Community and Park Board members spent some time at the City Park on Tuesday and initially laid out the new play structure in the space. At least five trees would have to be removed from the park for the new playground.
“Ouch,” Massey winced. “Losing those big oak trees is always hard.”
“One of them already appears to be dead and the smaller trees could be replanted,” said Osage County Special Services Director Megan Reichart.
“If we take out five trees,” Winslow said. “We can replant five trees.”
Skylar Miller, a member of the Park Board, is against the city taking on such a big project.
“I think the idea of an inclusive playground is great and I want to be respectful of the time and resources that people have put into this,” Miller said. “But I would like to take a more objective look at this because it is a very emotionally charged issue because you are dealing with something that’s going to benefit kids so it's hard to think about the primary issue, which is the financial future of the city.
“My main concern is when you put in a playground like this (is) they are quite expensive,” Miller continued. “If it is on public land, the city will be responsible for maintaining it.”
“But there has been a discussion about setting up a foundation to help maintain the playground,” Massey interrupted. “That alleviates a lot of the city’s responsibility. And on the other hand, we are here to provide services, and if you think about it, it is kinda like the city pool. We have to put in about $10,000 per year to keep it available to the people of the community. We want to provide a place where people want to live because we have things to offer.”
Massey went on to point out all that the board has done over the last several years to improve the city’s water, sewer, and streets.
“To me, that is essential infrastructure,” Miller said. “That is what I am most concerned about. I see us entering really hard financial times and I don’t know if a city this size really needs this level of a playground.”
“But will something like this bring people into this area?” Alderman Rick Niewald asked.
“I think this will be a destination for people,” Reichart said. “People have to drive over an hour to find a similar playground.”
Reichart went on to point out that the playground is not just for kids but for parents with disabilities that may not be able to take their children to a regular playground to play with them. There has been quite a bit of enthusiasm in the community from disabled adult residents who are excited about the prospect of a chance to swing and play again themselves.
“This is a wonderful thing, “ Massey said. “I think, personally, as a large community, a big-picture community, our community doesn’t stop at the city limits. Our community goes throughout the county and goes throughout the region. If we try to isolate ourselves to ‘this is what we need inside the city limits,’ we are in trouble.”
“The city would not be incurring any cost for the initial construction,” Winslow added. “And we already had it in our minds to establish a ‘legacy’ fund and committee for ongoing maintenance.”
“If we can get established with perpetual care, which I’m confident we can, then I’m confident we can leave something to our community as a board, as a council, that will benefit people down the road,” Massey said. “It’s got to be more than dollars and cents.”
“My plan is to continue to fundraise because to me this is very personal,” Reichart added. “It’s something we are going to have to continue to work on for years to come.”
Right now, moving forward on the project required a commitment from the city and the grant application that is due by Feb. 17. The DNR grant would be awarded in early summer but funds would not be released until October. If the grant is awarded, construction would not be completed on the playground until 2022. If the grant is not awarded, there is a plan to move forward with the project in phases but this is not the first choice of community members.
There are questions still pending about the cost of maintenance to the structure, especially the interlocking, rubber tiles that make up the surface of the playground, as well as specific on the legacy fund that would be set up to maintain the structure.
“My biggest fear with this is that your fundraising goals are not going to be met and it is going to be saddled on the city to take care of it,” Miller said. “No one is going to be the one that wants to say we don’t want to funnel more resources into the inclusive playground so we are going to be funneling resources away from essential infrastructure for this playground and it’s going to become a large financial burden. There is financial sense and I don’t see it.”
“Please don’t talk to me about financial sense,” Massey shot back. “We’ve been able to build our reserves, increase our parks, increase our delivery of resources and have projects on the side. We do understand the financial side of things. These guys sit here every month and work on the financial side of things. I’m telling you there is more to a community than money. If you do not have a community and provide services then what are we doing? We do have to watch what we spend and how we spend it. And we also have to grow the city.”
“Do you think this playground is good for our community?” Alderman Steve Boeckman asked Miller.
“Of course, it is, as long as it is financially stable,” Miller answered.
“Our pool is not financially stable,” Massey replied. “Our parks are not financially stable.”
“I understand where you are coming from, I really do,” Boeckman said addressing Miller’s concerns. “I don’t understand how we can turn this down when it is going to be good for the community.”
“I want to see the details,” Miller continued. “I want to see the money.”
“I appreciate your statements and you being the devil’s advocate,” Massey said. “But I have a council in favor of moving forward and I have the majority of the members of the park board in favor of moving forward.”
The first step will be drafting the resolution from the city that aldermen authorized Massey to sign and community members will move forward on applying for the DNR grant.