Ocean City To Bring Back Beach Toys This Summer; Dinosaur Climbing Sections Cost $16K Joanne Shriner, Staff Writer OCEAN CITY – The opportunity to purchase replacement beach playground equipment was brought before the Mayor and City Council last week and was approved with delivery expected this summer. Ocean City Recreation and Parks Director Susan Petito explained, as part of the Town’s Strategic Plan, the evaluation and recommendation of play equipment for the beach was identified as a High Management priority. Factors to be considered in the evaluation included playground safety compliancy, practicality of installation and removal from the beach, expected use, misuse practices and liability exposure. In April of 2013, the Recreation and Parks Commission agreed to not have the wooden playground structures, referred to as beach toys, return to the beach off the Boardwalk that summer once staff brought to the elected officials’ attention how the structures have become safety hazards as well as a nuisance with late-night shenanigans. Once that decision was finalized, many residents and visitors voiced concerns over not having the playgrounds on the beach as they have become a tradition along the Boardwalk for young visitors. The beach toys that once stood on the beach were all purchased and donated by local businesses. At that time, Bill Gibbs, owner of the Dough Roller Restaurants, pointed out several Boardwalk businesses were potential donors but questioned the town’s contribution. Mayor Rick Meehan felt there was some way for the town to match the money raised by donors to serve as some sort of leverage for property owner interest in bringing beach toys back. With the town just going through a stringent budget process, the question remained how exactly the replacement beach toys would be funded. During the Recreation and Parks Commission meeting in May of 2013, former Recreation and Parks Director Tom Shuster presented a list of 13 replacement options ranging in the price from $5,900 to $50,000. The commission directed staff to cut down the list to potential boulder playground equipment to present to the Mayor and City Council, along with a list of interested donors, costs and turnaround time of the different products. This week Petito brought forward the opportunity to purchase a dinosaur play structure that meets all of the requirements mandated by Public Works, Risk Management, Engineering and Parks. The structure includes three dinosaur climbing sections of a head, ribs, tail and three climbing eggs. The individual structures are made of PolyFiberCrete and weigh from 1,325 to 2,750 pounds. The play structures are available to the town for purchase at half the list price, which is $16,480 with a free delivery. “We can get it delivered this summer, which is pretty amazing because usually there would be at least a minimum of a 12-week lead to get this done,” Petito said. “The reason that we can get it done is because the playground representative already has this product. The reason he is giving it to us for such a good price is because he has it stored outside on his property.” According to Petito, placement of the structure seems most ideal at 3rd Street on the beach near the wooden walkway. “Having contact with some of the Boardwalk members who had supported this project in the past I don’t have any guaranteed dollar figure that they will be willing to contribute toward purchasing this but there has been some positive interest and some willingness to provide some kind of funding to bring this piece of equipment to the beach,” she said. More: mdcoastdispatch/?p=40753
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 16:22:18 +0000
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