Waldport council OKs seeking contractor to install specialty (and costly) playground surface at Southworth Park

 

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews

WALDPORT – The city of Waldport is taking another small but expensive step to develop the playground centerpiece of Louis Southworth Park.

The city council last week authorized city manager Dann Cutter to seek contractors to purchase and install a surface specially designed to go underneath a massive playground structure in the center of the new park.

The multi-colored plastic and metal structure cost the city $413,000 and will have 15 separate slides, 13 swings and all kinds of climbing activities. But the structure needs a surface beneath it that can absorb the impact of kids to keep them from serious injury but also durable enough to survive the wet, salty coastal weather.

The surface chosen by the city is expected to cost more than $300,000 to purchase and install. Cutter said the city’s request for proposals will be directed to companies “which supply and install this surfacing material and ensure that it meets state safety requirements.”

In a memo to the council last week, Cutter said the city has the playground equipment in storage and a contractor who will work with the manufacturer to erect the structure. Once that is done, a more specialized contractor will install the surface.

The council on Thursday chose between two types of surface – one an artificial grass surface at $15 per square foot and the other a deep, padded surface with a stable top at $25 per square foot. The council directed Cutter to go with the more expensive, padded surface.

“Can we afford either? Cutter told the council. “No. But tell me what you want and we’ll find the money.”

Cutter said other municipalities that have installed accessible playgrounds have advised him that the surface around and beneath the structures costs nearly as much as the equipment itself.

If work goes smoothly, Cutter said the playground – but not necessarily the rest of Southworth Park – could be open by the end of summer.

The city received a $750,000 state grant in 2022 and is spending $200,000 of its own money to develop the park on the former site of Waldport Middle/High School that it acquired in 2013.

In addition to the playground area, plans call for four picnic shelters, two pickleball courts, a basketball court, a pavilion, a hard-surface walking trail around the outside, a dog park, restroom, and a timber skills competition area.

In other business last week, the council:

• Approved moving the yearly $40,290 payment by the Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue District for leasing the city-owned fire station from June to December. The fire district requested the six-month change because it gets the bulk of its operating funds from property taxes paid the last two months of the year;
• Approved awarding a bid of $1.5 million to ORR Inc. of Turner, Ore. to install a control system and disinfection improvements at the wastewater treatment plant. Most of the project is being paid for with a $1.4 million state grant;
• Told Cutter to proceed with designs for 10 signs to direct people to key areas around the city, including the Port of Alsea, Southworth Park, various ball fields and other areas popular with visitors and residents;
• Heard an update on the city’s four-year-long attempt to use a $1.69 million state “Safe Streets to Schools” grant to build sidewalks along Crestline Drive. The project, initially bid at $3.8 million, has been scaled back but drew interest from just one contractor who bid to $1.88 million, Cutter told the council. He plans to meet with the company, see if it can be done within the city’s budget or break the project down into smaller pieces and re-bid portions; and
• Approved creating three residential building lots in the 14-acre former Ball property the city purchased for $85,000 in 2022. The city bought the property east of Township 13 and Agate Street to protect sewer and water infrastructure leading to the city’s wastewater treatment plant. Cutter said the lots can be carved out of the property and sold at market prices and help recoup the city’s investment.