By Adam Swift
Ward 5 City Councillor John Powers wants to put safety first at the Oak Island Playground.
At last week’s council meeting, Powers submitted a motion asking Mayor-elect Patrick Keefe to use Community Improvement Trust Fund money to resurface the playground with a handicap accessible rubberized surface.
“The park at Oak Island is probably the park in the city that doesn’t have a rubberized mat,” said Powers. “The mulch is not that effective, and I think that the people down there in Oak Island certainly deserve this. If this saves one child from being injured or worse, then we have spent money well and we have done our job.”
Councillor-at-Large Gerry Visconti said he supported the motion.
“I believe we chatted about this issue at the park at the budget hearings this year knowing that there were problems with that park,” said Visconti. “Thank you for putting this motion in. I know the administration was aware of this, and I would just love to see this get done because I know that there are quite a few kids who utilize the park.”
Visconti added that there have also been some needles found at the park, and that the city needs to be proactive to keep the area safe and clean.
“There is money in that account, let’s utilize it for the residents,” said Visconti.
Powers added that the Community Improvement Trust funds are not raised through taxes.
“When a developer builds something in the city, these are some of the rewards, if you want to call it that, that we get in return, a certain amount of money where we can handle these problems,” said Powers.
Councillor-at-Large Marc Silvestri said that Ralph DeCicco, the head of the city’s disability commission and its ADA compliance director had reached out to home and asked that the playground at the Paul Revere School be added to Powers’ motion.
“The playground at the Paul Revere School currently has wood chips and that is against ADA compliance,” said Silvestri.
Powers said he had no objection to that playground being added to the motion, but added that he would like to see the cost involved and how much money the city has in the Community Improvement Trust Fund.
