A recent inspection of the the playground structure at EJ Roberts Park determined it had deteriorated to a point that it was unsafe for public use, forcing its removal from the popular park.
The City of North Bend said via press release that the play structure was originally scheduled to be replaced in 2020, however, it now hopes to expedite that replacement. Currently crews are also working to repair the park’s restrooms, which according to residents, have been closed for nearly a year due to electrical issues.
The city has begun evaluating various playground equipment replacement options, which will be presented during the July 26th and August 23rd Parks Commission meetings. The commission will then make a recommendation on the replacement play structure.
The city is proposing to fund the new structure in the 2018 budget, which means the park would only have two swings as play equipment for a few months.
North Bend Senior Planner Mike McCarty said based on the Parks Commission the play structure replacement recommendation, they will ask for funding from the city council in the 2018 budget. He said staff will prepare a decision card/funding request for the council’s consideration next fall when the new budget is being determined, but the council will have to balance this play structure need against other needs as it decides on next budget.
Citizens are welcome to attend the Parks Commission meetings where this topic will be discussed and provide input on the choices presented. The meetings are being held at 6:30PM at the City Hall Annex located at 126 E. 4th Street.
Comments
Hey I have a good idea, let’s buy more park space that we can’t maintain and leave our cities infrastructure in even worse shape (which is hard to imagine).
Better idea would be to have the Developers set aside land and useable land for there clients. These park mitigation dollars is the cheap way out — we need the land for local parks
I’m not aware a recent development (last 10 years, maybe longer) that hasn’t set aside land and built a park for it’s residents. Additionally, these developers are charged about $40,000 in impact fees per single family residence which includes $4690 for additional parks, over $10,000 for roads, and another $10,000 for schools and the list goes on. To blame the measly 400 or so houses that have been built for the total lack of planning and infrastructure in this city is ludacris.
The only teason they ate doing anything now is because of the new houseing development.when you are attatched to homes that start at 600,000 you cant have a run down playground.