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North Saanich approves purchase of $100K play structure for Jubilee Park

A decision on how much of the play area will feature an accessible rubber surface has been deferred
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District of North Saanich council has approved the purchase of a new play structure for Jubilee Park, based on this design chosen through public engagement. (courtesy of District of North Saanich)

North Saanich Council has approved the purchase of a new play structure for Jubilee Park, but a decision on what type of surfacing it will feature has been deferred to a later date.

At the March 20 regular council meeting, council debated two options presented by staff, who during the meeting highlighted the importance of purchasing the equipment as soon as possible if they want to be able to have it in place this summer.

Staff recommended council either approve the purchase of equipment from Swing Time Playgrounds and Parks – which was chosen as the winning design by council in January following public input – for $99,881, not including GST, or approve the same but with an additional spend of $70,000 to replace some of the wood chip surface with rubber surface to increase accessibility around the main play structure.

Council originally focused their debate on whether the extra spend was doable without impacting the 2023 municipal tax increase – which is still being determined as part of the 2023-2027 Financial Plan process. Staff confirmed the extra cost would be covered from the district’s parks capital reserves, with no impact on the tax increase.

READ MORE: North Saanich picks design for $250K Jubilee Park upgrade

Council looked set to endorse Coun. Phil DiBattista’s motion to approve the purchase with the extra cost for partial rubber flooring, until Coun. Sanjiv Shrivastava asked staff how much more it would cost for the entire playground area to be surfaced in rubber, rather than wood chip or a hybrid approach as moved by DiBattista.

Staff said they were unable to provide a specific figure at the moment, but estimated the cost increase would be around $140,000, which could also be covered by the parks capital reserves without impacting the tax increase.

DiBattista then amended his motion to include rubber surfacing the entire play area, but a combination of Coun. Brett Smyth’s concerns about potential heat impacts, and general council concerns about approving an additional cost without knowing exactly what that figure would be, led him to withdraw his motion once again. The motion was amended to approve the baseline purchase of the play structure, while directing staff to return to council with a report on the exact cost and heat impacts of full rubber flooring, before council makes a decision on that element of the project.

That final motion was carried unanimously by council.

The Jubilee Park upgrade project has a previously approved total budget of $250,000, with any overages covered by the parks capital reserve. Staff identified grants totalling up to $42,000 have been applied for to help reduce the cost of the project to the district, but the results of those applications have not been announced.

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@JSamanski
justin.samanski-langille@goldstreamgazette.com

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