January 27, 2020, Budget Meeting Item 11.7, Written Submission

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Hello,

I'm a resident across form Willistead park. We've frequented the park since moving to the area in 2015. We've had issues with the sand at this park since then and have been asking for replacement of the sand base. We've had issues with sharp objects and at times needles in the sand. We've had issues with cicada killers (large wasps) every year from late July thru late September. See attachments of the holes in the sand where they come out. They bury themselves all around the play equipment and it's a danger to small children to either step on them or grab them not knowing any better. I have to bring a rake now because of our safety concerns with this sand. As the downtown opiod crisis and homeless population has now extended to the area of old walkerville, we increasingly find needles and sharp objects in the sand and it is a major concern. The equipment is old and needs to be refreshed,. We were told in 2017 that it was too costly to redo the base at that time and would have to wait untill 2023 when the equipment reaches it's replacement age. This is no longer an acceptable answer and we plead with council to fast track the replacement of the sand and equipment. The sand is an outright safety concern in what is a highly visited and utilized public park both by it's local residents and by tourists travelling to our city. It's not a good look for our city when people see drug paraphernalia buried in the sand. It's also obviously very dangerous. It would be more financially sound to do both now rather than just the sand and then tear up the playground base for the equipment refresh.

thank you, Sean Bryan