Plea for a cleaner playground

When is a park for kids not the place their parents want them to be?

The answer is not a park in some urban danger zone. It’s the town “Island Climbers” park on School Street in the Center, according to the account parent Liz Surozenski gave to the Town Board on Tuesday.

With a display of photos showing weeds, sandy craters, moldy, dirty equipment and a broken fence, among other problems, Ms. Surozenski told the Town Board at its work session that “a lack of maintenance and cleanliness” was spoiling the park. Describing some of the problems, she asked if board members would let their children or grandchildren play there.

Supervisor Jim Dougherty called the photos “hair raising.” Councilwoman Chris Lewis said, “This woman doesn’t exaggerate.” She noted volunteers had built the park and the town needed to spend only a few hundred dollars to keep it in repair.

Ms. Surozenski said she made the same plea to the Town Board in August 2010. “You said to me last year you were on it” and that a maintenance plan would be implemented, she told the board. What’s needed, she said, is a maintenance plan.

This year she emailed town officials on March 8 reminding them of their pledge, she said. A spring clean-up was conducted by the Town Highway Department, she told the board, “but as you can see it’s not suitable to play here” this summer.

Among the problems were knee-high weeds and dog feces in the sandy play area, some of which Ms. Surozenski said she had to clean off the slide. She said signs had never been posted telling dog walkers that dogs were not allowed there.

“All the parents really want is a safe place,” she said.

Councilman Ed Brown commented that the town needed “a person there every week” to keep up the park. Supervisor Dougherty said, “We’ll do it,” and asked Ms. Surozenski to keep in touch with the board if she did not see any progress.

A Highway Department worker was at the playground Tuesday morning, weeding and cleaning the play equipment.