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Date: 8/9/2022
GRANBY – The Selectboard unanimously voted to temporarily close the playground at Dufresne Park until repairs can be made to make it safer for children and families.
During their Aug. 1 meeting, the board received feedback from Building Maintenance Supervisor Jeremy Carriere who brought in an independent party to assess the conditions of the playground. Carriere expressed that muany of the issues found with the playground area come from the foundation on which it sits.
Carriere said the initial assessment of the land called for a complete excavation of the playground so that the foundation could be regraded and the drainage underneath improved to help get rid of sitting water that builds in the mulch. He added this issue would have to be addressed to avoid other issues that would still come up if the area were just re applied with new mulch.
“If you look at where the playground is in relation to the center water mass that’s constantly flowing through there, it’s all in line,” Carriere said. “Their feeling is if we don’t dig down and go through it, we can put all that mulch in there only for it to be moved by water flow.”
Another hazard identified at the playground is the bases of the swing set which was improperly constructed as they do not meet the required depth. Carriere said the assessment of these swings showed more concrete was added to possibly attempt to weigh down the foundation, but at this point this is one of the areas that must be excavated for improvement.
Another issue of note was found with the bucket seat on the swing set for young children. According to the independent assessor, the distance of swing outwards exceeds state regulations, thus making it a safety hazard.
Selectboard Chair Glen Sexton responded to the findings saying that liability is his concern and felt it was appropriate to close the playground for the time being.
“We’ve been notified by an outside source that does inspections for playgrounds and they’re telling us its unsafe for various reasons,” Sexton said. “I don’t think we should keep it open. It sounds like even if we did what we could do there, we may still run into the same problems down the road. Those things won’t change. Our concern is that people can get hurt if they choose to go on it.”
Sexton added he was open to the town looking at potential grant options from nonprofit organizations and cited the Boys and Girls Club as an example of an organization that could benefit from one of these grants. He also asked if a spot behind the current playground made sense for a new playground to which Carriere said the whole area was a “detriment.”
Fellow board member Crystal Dufresne said she was not all for tearing down the current playground until they looked more into potential costs of repairing the area versus options for a new playground.
“I just think it’s going to be more expensive for a brand new park than it is to get that up to grade, get a way to properly drain the water,” Dufresne said. “I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves by closing the park down completely that’s just my feeling. I think we can close down certain areas.”
Sexton responded and said while he was not arguing for the complete teardown of the park, he felt temporarily closing it was the town’s best option for now until they produce cost estimates. Member Richard Beaulieu agreed with Sexton and felt fixing the land would require getting underground and figuring out the drainage issue.
Dufresne suggested that with the board choosing to temporarily close the playground, they would need to begin bringing in a contractor for price estimates of repairs followed by a whole new project. Sexton agreed but also mentioned that a brand new park option should not be ruled out if it makes sense.
“I definitely think we should move forward figuring out costs of what it would take to do this,” Sexton added. “Regardless of what we do, the equipment is still aging. There’s wear and tear, elements, things break.”
Closure of the park was set to occur within a day or two of the meeting and signage was posted at the park. A temporary snow fencing barrier placed around the playground will indicate that the whole area is off limits.
Based on initial estimates of re-applying new mulch and repairing pieces of playground equipment, costs exceed $15,000. The application of new mulch alone accounts for $13,000 of the estimated repair costs. This is without any excavation of the foundational parts of the playground.
Beaulieu closed discussion suggesting fundraising for a potential repair or replacement project of the Dufresne Park playground. He added he hopes the Friends of Dufresne Park group would be interested in assisting fundraising efforts.
New appointments to Police Advisory Board and dog officer
Annette Kumeiga was appointed by the Selectboard to serve on the Police Advisory Board. Kumeiga, a retired state trooper who lives in town, will work on the board advising the Police Department through the general hiring process and in choosing new officers for the town.
With the retirement of former Dog Officer Gordon Landry, the board approved Kim Vernier-Goldsmith in the role after volunteering. The position now will go by the name Animal Control Officer. Vernier-Goldsmith will go through a seven week, two-days-a-week training session before officially working in the position.