Midland's kids could be without playgrounds for a year or more after council decided to go ahead and mow down the playgrounds.
The move came Wednesday after a report brought to committe of the whole outlined that various playground equipment around the town that needs to be replaced.
David DiPaola, a certified playground inspector, substantiated the report with a presentation to council.
"We did an inspection on your playgrounds and some of them turned out well and some of them did not," he said. "Some of the problems are related to the age of the structures. They cannot be repaired and the parts are no longer available. In certain circumstances, some pieces can be replaced, like an older slide can be replaced with a new slide."
All council members agreed with the report, but a couple of them disagreed with the timing of it.
Coun. Cody Oschefski wanted the decision delayed for two weeks or so.
"I have a lot of questions," he said, adding he was wondering what other options council has. "We've got great local businesses. Maybe some welding and fabrication companies could step and assist us. We've seen local companies donate paint.
"In speaking to the public today, there was certainly an outcry of us to just plow these playgrounds. Maybe there are local scrap companies that would remove these playgrounds in exchange for a scraps deal. I just think there are some valid options we can discuss rather than just deciding to get rid of all of these right now."
Where he agreed with his colleague, said Coun. Bill Gordon, it was clear to him the town could not put it off any further.
"From a pure liability standpoint, are we wise to defer this?" he questioned.
Mayor Stewart Strathearn concurred.
"Now that we have knowledge of the liability, we're liable," he said, adding he didn't see any reason to defer the motion.
"We've already had other incidents, prior to COVID, where young children were injured and there are now claims against the municipality. It is just like having an open manhole, even if you've got yellow tape around it. I think we need to start decommissioning the equipment."
Strathearn added he trusted staff to be able to make the right decisions.
The deferral attempt was defeated and council then turned to staff with questions.
Gordon said he didn't think the town had a choice but to act on the safety concerns brought forward in the report.
"This is like owning and driving a car and not doing any routine maintenance," he said. "How is this allowed to deteriorate to this stage? When was the last inspection? How come there are no plans for upkeep?
"Our kids are going to be without any recreational apparatus, while we try and find money, go to tender, procure and reinstall," added Gordon. "We've really failed our community in my mind."
In response to Gordon's question Andy Campbell, executive director of environment & infrastructure, said playground asset management has been a challenge.
"It was only two years ago we had staff trained as formal inspectors," said Campbell. "We do need to do a better job maintaining equipment over time. We need to do a better job (but) it will cost more money and more staff time. The budget I've put forward reflects that."
He also talked about how things will proceed with equipment replacement.
"We said we would have to have some public engagement as to what does the playground equipment look like in each of the parks," said Campbell. "The Parks Master Plan identified over $1.1 million to repair this equipment."
The public consultation process, he said, would address various questions from residents and give staff direction.
"We'll have to go through a process as we look at each of those parks and have some public engagement," Campbell said. "What do we put back in? What is the demographic of each of the playground areas? You might put something totally different, exercise equipment or something, in there?"
Another suggestion in the report, he said, was to invite vendors for a workshop to share ideas and look at samples of their equipment.
"Each of these structures is more than $100,000," said Campbell. "You're right, we want to be able to put equipment back in that fits the needs of the community and what that area of town might look like in the future."
As for repairing what can be repaired, he said, staff are in favour of doing so.
"We will be doing that," added Campbell. "One, because the cost of replacement is huge and second, the community doesn't want us throwing out stuff we shouldn't be throwing out. I can make a commitment that we will only rip out what has to be ripped out."
Oschefski said he was still having a hard time wrapping his head around how playgrounds are more liable than the skateparks around town.
"I do think we're looking at it with kind of tunnel vision," he said. "We've roped off some playgrounds and within a hundred feet, we encourage our residents to ride their skateboards at the skatepark. Those are horizontal railings. That's a town-owned asset and I don't understand how we're any more liable for a playground than we are for a skatepark.
"I pinched my toes on these playgrounds," added Oschefski. "I burned my butt on these slides and I don't think two weeks is too much to ask to rally the community."
Committee of the whole eventually voted to approve the original staff report, which estimates that it will cost $25,000 to remove and dispose of nine pieces of playground equipment sets, as well as $60,000 to top up surface materials, maintain existing equipment and add wood-fiber surfacing in select locations. The remaining expenses will be decided by council in the 2021 budget deliberations.
