Confusion and concern over expenditures used to replace burned playground equipment at Northside Park may be resolved soon, with Mayor Tim Kyle planning to meet with members of the Northside Park Board Tuesday night, after The Star-Herald went to press.
The replacement equipment has been ordered by the city and should be installed soon, according to Kyle.
The equipment was originally purchased using part of a $200,000 appropriation state Sen. Barbara Blackmon shepherded through the state legislature in 2019 for improvements at the park. She enlisted the support of local representatives Rep. Jason White, Rep. Kenneth Walker, and Sen. Lydia Chassaniol, who had also been made aware of the plans for the park.
In January 2020, the Northside Park Board, a community-led organization, asked to work with then-mayor Jimmy Cockroft and the board of aldermen to improve the park and design a budget for how the grant money would be spent.
The equipment was burned during the July 4 holiday this year.
During the most recent aldermen’s meeting, there was discussion about the funding used to replace the burned equipment. While the park is insured, the playground equipment was not covered, leaving the funds remaining from the original grant as an option to cover the replacement cost.
LaShawn Speed, a member of the Northside Park Board, said she opposes using the remaining grant money to cover the cost of replacing the burned equipment. She also questioned why the playground equipment was not covered by city insurance.
“In my mind, it would have been a replacement toy and insurance would have covered it. We spent $70,000,” she said. “Who would not cover a purchase of $70,000? We buy lawn mowers for $10,000 over there. I see them at city hall, and we insured those.”
The mayor said the city does not expect playground equipment to specifically need insurance, since such equipment is usually planned for replacement when it becomes aged and worn. The new playground equipment at Northside, however, will be covered in the city’s insurance policy going forward, he said.
“We have insurance on our parks. We never dreamed we would have to have insurance specifically on a piece of equipment because playground equipment usually just wears out,” Kyle told The Star-Herald. “You know, who would have ever thought that you would have to have insurance on it? At the time that it burned, there was not insurance on it, but we had insurance on the park.”
The mayor said he is seeking alternative ways to cover the replacement cost and save the remaining funds for future Northside improvements, and he thinks he has found an avenue to do so.
“I’m working on trying to find maybe some other resources — applying for grant money or something else,” said Kyle. “There’s some money out there hopefully, and I've got a lead on some stuff that I'm working on, and hopefully we can get that replaced without spending that money.”
Speed said the current administration has not yet met with the Northside Park Committee to discuss the plans to replace the burned equipment or to determine how remaining improvement funds should be used.
“My problem is we don’t even have a discussion,” said Speed. “We have a whole community that discussed it, but the administration did not come back to this committee and discuss it. They just decided that ‘We make those decisions’ and jumped on it.”
She added that she believes there are four pillars to decision-making on the city’s parks.
“Northside Park, as all parks’ revitalization should be revitalized with the attitude reflective of four C’s: culture, care, comfort, and compassion in tranquil spaces,” she said.
Kyle said he recently reached out to Speed and Ward Two Alderman Daniel to remind them that the funds are supposed to be spent by January 2022 and asked if they would like to replace the equipment using the money. Kyle said the committee had not made much progress since last June, and that the group has not attempted to meet with him nor the board since the most recent elections.
The lack of communication between the two groups appears to have caused the confusion. With the new playground equipment already on the way, the groups are expected to discuss ways to fund the playground equipment replacement and plans for the park moving forward.
