SERIOUSLY, TRAMPOLINES, think TRAMPOLINES, everybody LOVES Trampolines!
OK, back to reality...
The Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees told Parks and Recreation Director Art Serafinski to spend up to 100,000$ on playground equipment and YCD would like to give a big Ypsi slap on the back to Mr. Serafinski for being a SMART SHOPPER. He COULD have bought some pretty good playground equipment for 90K RETAIL. But Mr. Serafinski is a regular Priceline Negotiator (cue WIlliam Shatner moment) and is picking up a demo model of said 90K equipment AND can get free delivery thrown in for 59 large. Well played! It also means more equipment could potentially be added making for one excellent park for kids.
The deal isn't done but hey, it looks and sounds good and if Mr. Serafinski can deliver the goods at these prices, we say well done!
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8 comments:
It's so great to see Township officials spending $ wisely. That's quite a chunk of change left over, for more improvements, or repairs down the road. Good for Mr. S.
That's what struck me about the story, a proper and careful use of taxpayer monies. Too often we're forced to hear about the exact opposite
And Ypsi Township parks get used - alot. One of the things I really like about the township. I still think taxes are way out of line, but at least we get some of it back one trip to the park at a time.
*sigh* It truly is good to see a politician spending wisely. But honestly, I would have much rather seen this 100 large go to paying for another sheriff deputy. If there's one thing the entire Ypsilanti community (city and township) could use right now, it's a little public safety. I can honestly say I haven't seen things this bad in a long, long time. Not since the legendary early 90's.
hotlunch--I do agree with what you are saying. Since i live it the city I can't really have much of an impact on the Township voting wise but I suppose they choose their priorities and like glimmertwinfan says the arks do get used a lot.
Early 90's? You must have missed Depot Town in the early 80's YIKES!
The full details are available at:
http://www.twp.ypsilanti.mi.us/documents/serve.php/1498/October_2nd_2007.pdf
Here is the first part of this. In a nutshell they are purchasing equipment used at a trade show. They had to act fast, and don't get much selection (as if that matters), but they did save alot of money.
C. PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT AT LAKEVIEW PARK
Clerk Stumbo stated that there were two requests for Other Business that had been
distributed to Board Members. She asked Art Serafinski, Recreation Director to explain
his request for playground equipment at Lakeview Park.
Mr. Serafinski stated that they had $100,000 budgeted for the renovation of Lakeview
Park. Over the past several months, they met with residents in the area and conducted
a comprehensive survey about things they wanted to see in the park. They tallied the
survey and held a follow-up meeting and one of the biggest things they wanted to see
was new playground equipment. With the park being on a major thoroughfare, they
wanted to install something nice. He explained that every year there was a National
Parks & Recreation Convention and Trade Show that happened throughout the United
States, this year it would be in Indianapolis. He had been in contact with two of the
major vendors of playground equipment. Miracle of Michigan had provided products in
Township parks, they recently purchased Miracle’s equipment for Harris Park and
Community Center Park. The other company was Gametime, which was also in the top
three playground vendors in Michigan. At the conference shows, the companies put
together a playground display for their up and coming products for 2008. They built the
entire structure at the convention in the hall for people to look at but once the
convention was over, they could no longer sell the equipment as new. The Township
Hotlunch:
Money for township parks operations and capital improvements are funded through a separate parks-and-recreations millage and aren't available to the township board for general-fun expenditures. Which, if you ask me, is a good thing, given the shenanigans the Stumbo slate on the board likes play with township money.
--Colonel Will
Now don't get me wrong. I too believe keeping our parks up to spec is important. And I realize that moneys are earmarked for certain funds. I was making an oversimplification to demonstrate the point. I applaud Mr. Serafinski for his fine work. And honestly, I think he's one of the few employees on the twp payroll that does his job extremely well and I believe he honestly cares about his community. It is although, extremely frustrating to know how horribly understaffed the police services and fire services sections of the twp are based on twp population, call volume, and taxbase. Ypsilanti Twp has a track record of wise spending and careful development and planning. However, their tunnel vision with the County BOC and the pay for police contracts has gotten out of hand. They are routinely putting the safety of the people into the fray and using it as leverage in a battle many see as unable to be won. For that reason alone, I have lost faith and respect for this board. I wish them the best, but does the end justify the means?
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