City of Chehalis Recreation Manager Lilly Wall updates the Chehalis City Council on Penny Playground Monday evening in Chehalis.
Plans for Penny Playground are moving forward, after the Chehalis City Council approved up to a $1 million debt issue at its regular Monday night meeting.
“We are not choosing one service over another to do this project,” said Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes. “That’s troubling to me that people think that’s happening. That’s not. These are funds that this committee has worked hard to secure these grants. These grants can be used only for this purpose — Lodging Tax Advisory money can be used for purposes like this.”
The Chehalis City Council approved a debt issue not to exceed $1 million for a maximum maturity term of 15 years through a private placement process. Lodging Tax Funds will account for all or most of the debt service payments.
City Manager Jill Anderson spoke to the Penny Playground project.
“When I came to the city, I was told about Recreation Park and that we need to do improvements there,” Anderson said. “(I) learned about Penny Playground and the history of that park and how important it was that everybody came together using their pennies and loose change — and school kids and everybody came out to build that park and how important it was. That was disturbing because it was deteriorating. It had outlived its anticipated lifespan. The wood was deteriorating, there were concerns about things that were not thought about 25 years ago that are a concern now.”
Anderson provided the history of the project, and addressed issues she believed people may have with allocating money to a major park renovation.
“When we have grant monies, there are specific legal restrictions on how we use that money,” Anderson said. “The grants that we have been applying for and the donations that have been made are specifically for these purposes.
Recreation Manager Lilly Wall presented an update to Chehalis City Council.
“The Penny Playground is a shining example of the best community project I have ever watched our community do,” Wall said. “They have put thousands of hours into planning, design, fundraising and then building it — and the ballfield project was similar to that as well. But like Jill said, the park is deteriorating, it’s aging. It’s time to bring it up to the new standards.”
Wall mentioned project partners including the Chehalis Foundation, the city and the Penny Playground Strategic Planning Committee, before providing an update.
The timeline for the project is contingent on all funding sources being secured, including federal and state grants, community fundraising goals and the loan that the Chehalis City Council approved. However, Wall said she hopes for the project to be complete by the end of October of this year.
The goal for the new Penny Playground is to create a “modern, accessible, inclusive and graded play structure,” according to the presentation Wall gave. The playground will be American with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible, with a wheelchair accessible merry-go-round. Features also include all-weather play surface and walking paths, zipline and swings, sensory panels, spinning and climbing elements and more.
The Recreation Park Renovations are projected to cost $3.75 million. The budget for the ballfield is $1,864,000 and the walkway, trails and drainage budget is $536,000. Penny Playground is expected to cost $1.35 million.
According to the presentation, there was a total of $1,306,000 in secured funds. With pending funds, however, Wall said during her presentation that she anticipated $3,006,000. There was a projected funding shortage of $744,000.
Finance Director Chun Saul delivered a financing options presentation to the council, and recommended the loan that the council later approved.
After the Chehalis City Council approved the debt issue, Dawes thanked the staff and the community members in the audience with the Chehalis Foundation.
“We have said it before and we can’t say it enough,” Dawes said. “There are a lot of projects that wouldn’t be done and a lot of enjoyable things that our citizens wouldn’t have, if it wasn’t for the Foundation and the community. We thank you for your work.”
