I am amazed and pleased to see the use of the Breezy Point Park. Each year we see increased activity. The Park and Recreation Committee has been looking at park needs and planning for the future. A good part of that planning has been involved with improvements to the city park but other areas are also considered as part of the Comprehensive Park Plan. A Capital Improvement Plan is in the discussion stages and the hope is this can be adopted in the near future as part of the plan.
Funds have been budgeted for capital purchases on an annual basis. This doesn’t mean that funds are spent in the context of use it or loose it. Capital funds that are not expended are placed in the Revolving Capital Fund. This provides for and allows the city to purchase or make improvements to the park system that may exceed the annual budget.
One goal of the Park and Recreation Committee is to make improvements on an annual basis. These improvements would hopefully be in keeping with need that has been demonstrated but there are also improvements that create new opportunities. One of these being considered is a fishing pier along the channel off of Breezy Point Drive. When looking at demonstrated needs we have many times exceeded the existing capacity of picnic tables, trash containers and park benches in City Park.
This has been identified as a need that the Park and Recreation Committee has addressed. They have recommended that four picnic tables, two trash containers and a park bench be purchased for an expanded area of City Park. The City Council concurred with that purchase and these have been placed on order. The low quote for these purchases was $4121.28 which includes freight. Keep in mind park equipment needs to be far more durable than household use so products are more expensive than you may think. The city did receive 4 quotes with the highest quote for the same equipment being approximately $7600. Given that range I think the value for dollars spent is high.
The city hopes to see the new equipment delivered in the near future.
