From: Gerald Fisher
Sent: Wed Mar 11 15:45:39 2020
To: Andy Peters
Subject: RE: Clark park
Importance: Normal
Absolutely and be patient with it. It will come and get easier really fast.
Regards,
Gerald Fisher, P.E. | Public Works Director
City of Molalla
117 N Molalla Ave. | PO Box 248 |Molalla, OR 97038
Office: 503.829.6855 | Direct: 503.759.0218
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient and have received this communication in error, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. Thank you.
From: Andy Peters <apeters@cityofmolalla.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 3:16 PM
To: Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Subject: RE: Clark park
Gerald I will put my mind to comparing his version to mine and figuring out how I can improve. When I read them side be side, the difference is obvious. Just got to figure out some filtering rules for myself to make me write this way! Thanks for the opportunities to cut my teeth on it. Andy
From: Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 3:05 PM
To: Andy Peters <apeters@cityofmolalla.com>
Subject: RE: Clark park
Hi Andy,
Thanks for following up with Ms. Hess on this. I let Dan know you were fielding concerns from folks in the community about playground equipment. He had a comment on writing style that he thought would be beneficial for you going forward and made the following edits to your email with ideas for you to think about. Here they are.
Ms. Hess:
I’m responding on behalf of the Public Works Director regarding your question about Clark Park equipment. I believe all of the slides are open at Clark Park (by the Rodeo Grounds) and am not aware of any issues. I’ll drive by and check it out myself today.
The City has been trying to find ways to address other playground equipment throughout the city as well. Such as the equipment in Fox Park (by the Library). Currently, we do not have a revenue source other than our General Fund to pay for needed new equipment and/or some of the fairly expensive repairs. The General Fund budget is shared by the Police Department and many other city services.
This next fiscal year we are establishing a Park Reserve Fund in order to replace park equipment. We are creating this fund to save and prepare as well as create a location for local citizens to raise funding if they are so inclined. Donations could be taken and we have seen grass roots efforts to raise funds be successful in other communities (the Silverton Skate Park comes to mind). You or others you know may be interested in spearheading this kind of effort.
Our existing equipment is not being manufactured today and replacement parts are unavailable. We must follow industry standards in order to keep children and the community safe. We are committed to finding solutions.
I hope this is enough information. Feel free to give me a call, and thank you for sending this message! The more the community participates in this process, the faster it will come together.
Respectfully
While we may have more information, it is sometimes best to keep it general and avoid details. This is a learned skill and you are doing better each day with more exposure to these kinds of issues. Dan has a particular writing philosophy and after being burned a few times myself in the past I agree with his approach. Keep up the good work and feel free to run these things by us at any time. You can always respond in the interim with, “I will look into this and get back to you shortly.” That has always worked for me when I need to dig into the information and it takes more time.
Regards,
Gerald Fisher, P.E. | Public Works Director
City of Molalla
117 N Molalla Ave. | PO Box 248 |Molalla, OR 97038
Office: 503.829.6855 | Direct: 503.759.0218
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this email message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient and have received this communication in error, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. Thank you.
From: Andy Peters <apeters@cityofmolalla.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 9:14 AM
Cc: City Recorder <recorder@cityofmolalla.com>; Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Subject: RE: Clark park
Good Morning Ms. Hess,
I’m responding on behalf of the Public Works Director regarding your question about Clark Park equipment. I believe all of the slides are open at Clark Park (by the Rodeo Grounds) and am not aware of any issues. I’ll drive by and check it out myself today.
The Community does, on the other hand, have major issues with Fox Park’s equipment (by the Library). That equipment is indeed in need need of full replacement, due to the safety and supply issues I explain below. Children were injured on this equipment last summer, so they will remain boarded until the community can solve the issue properly. There is a RESERVE FUND – PARKS EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT the City is using to save up for this equipment, but it’s pretty humble at this time. Donations can be taken, of course, and we have seen grass roots efforts to raise funds be successful in other communities (the Silverton Skate Park comes to mind). Would you be interested in spearheading this kind of effort?
The reason the fund is so humble is the General Fund (which pays this park parks) is a small pie with a lot of demands on it: parks shares these funds with Administration Dept, Finance Dept, the City Council, and the entire Police Dept, among other things. As for interim repairs: The manufacturer of this old equipment is no longer in business and can’t supply parts. They were a small, custom design firm, and it’s unclear why they were chosen when the Library was built. We demanded a site visit from their former CEO last year, but all he could do was supply the City with a few old castings he had in the back of a shop, from years ago. We used these to replace the dangerous broken castings on the larger structures last year, which is the only reason the structure is open for play right now. But that’s the end of our parts supply. Our next step was to try contacting THEIR old supplier – a Florida company who manufactured the plastic molds – but they, too, can no longer supply parts because of a factory fire several years ago which destroyed all those molds. Next, we reached out to other major equipment manufacturers, such as SiteLine and Northwest Playground Eq., about bolting after-market equipment on Molalla’s existing structures. But these companies run in to liability issues: no one wants to put their safety certified equipment components on someone else’s structure! Finally, our own insurance company has informed us that we risk lose of immunity if our own crews fabricate something for the structure ourselves – it won’t be “certified” the way the manufacturers of public park equipment is.
I hope this is enough information. Feel free to give me a call, and thank you for sending this message! The more the community voices their wish to see this park fixed as a priority, the faster it will come together.
Respectfully,
Andy Peters
City of Molalla
Public Works Operations Supervisor
(503) 829-6855 x220
Cell: 503-793-0507
From: holly.hess16 <holly.hess16@yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, March 9, 2020 9:53 PM
To: Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Subject: Clark park
Hi,
As spring and summer are vastly approaching the question remains if and when the slides at Clark park are going to be fixed? It has been over a year now they they have been boarded up. Its devastating to the children who come play at this wonderful park only to find that the slides can't be used. The slide for smaller children is broken and yet the smaller children have a hard time accessing other slides. It inquiring as other people talk about it bit we find or hear no answers.
Thank you
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone