POWERTECH is a local company specializing in residential and commercial electrical service, generator sales, service and installation, and facility maintenance.  The company makes donations to improve the quality of life within the City and this year they have approach the Parks and Recreation Department interested in making a donation that would benefit the youth of the City.  After several discussion, the decision to replace a playground became of strong interest.   Several factors were considered when choosing a potential playground.  These include: an area in an underserved or lower income area of the City, the age of the playground, and proximity to the existing trail system or a pending improvement to the trail system.  Based on this review, Cochran Park was identified as a preferred location for the playground replacement. Cochran Park playground was installed in 1997, it will be immediately adjacent to 1st Avenue Trail, which provides broader access and connectivity to the entire trail system. In addition, Cochran Park is located within an area of the City that has one of the lower income levels.

POWERTECH has agreed to donate $200,000 towards the replacement of the playground.   This project is part of the FY 22 CIP request and is identified as project PR22-05.  The CIP request is for a total project cost of $400,000 with $200,000 in General Obligation bonds as match to the donation from POWERTECH.

 A funding agreement has been drafted that states the donation will be paid in five (5) equal payments of $40,000 paid to the city each year starting December 1, 2020.  POWERTECH is interested in having the playground completed within the next year.  The design process would take a couple of months and construction could occur in mid-May or early June, prior to the start of FY 22.   For this to occur, the City Council would need to approve the project as part of the Capital Improvement Program and authorize the project to move forward at the time of approval.  After an internal review with the Chief of Staff, City Attorney and Finance Director, it was determined that the City would have the means to financially proceed with the project prior to the start of FY 22.

The design of the playground will potentially have play features appropriate for ages two-five and ages five-12.  Other improvement should include a shelter, and a concrete area between the shelter and playground.  The playground would replace the existing playground and be located south of the tennis courts, west of the location of the current playground.