Two Fannin County parks will be receiving substantial upgrades in playground equipment following action by the Board of Commissioners at their Tuesday, August 10, meeting.
Commissioners unanimously approved $43,184.96 for equipment at Tom Boyd Park and $162,592 for equipment at Ron Henry Horseshoe Bend Park.
The request for the purchases, which replace current equipment, was submitted by Recreation Director Eddie O’Neal.
However, the price tags caught commissioners by surprise.
When questioned, O’Neal explained that both are commercial sets, which are designed for the heavy use playgrounds experience.
This is not the current situation at Tom Boyd Park where residential equipment is in use. “We’ve got to get the residential set out,” O’Neal said.
The upgrade at Horseshoe Bend is a much larger set because the playground area there is larger than the one at Tom Boyd, and it also includes a rubberized, pour-in surface.
Both sets come with attachments especially designed for children with handicaps and both comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, O’Neal said.
Money for the equipment will come from the product development money generated by the county lodging tax and administered by the Chamber of Commerce.
Both sets will be installed within 90 days.
Commissioners also gave O’Neal the go ahead to close the drainage ditch between the t-ball field and the house used for the After School Program. The $11,600 expense will come out of Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds designated for recreation.
O’Neal told the commissioners that long range planning should include finding a way to expand the After School Program. Because of the size of the facility being used, the program can only accept 50 students. However, there is a current waiting list of at least 20 more youngsters, the majority of them from the East side of the county.
In other action at the meeting, commissioners gave Public Works Director Zach Ratcliff the go ahead to purchase a 2017 F-250 Ford truck from Bill Holt Chevrolet in Blue Ridge. The truck will cost $38,787, which is about half the price of a new truck and will replace the current sign truck, Ratcliff said.
In addition, Ratcliff said a snow plow can be mounted on the 3/4 ton, four-wheel-drive F-250 so it can do double duty in winter.
The truck being replaced has over 300,000 miles and spends most of its time on a rollback, Ratcliff said. The F-250 has 52,000 miles.
The purchase will come from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenue.