After literally a few years of discussions, fundraising, and planning, the Recreation Park Board, thanks to the Healthy Hometown Coalition and many others, are one step closer to finally seeing new playground equipment put in place at Mountain View Park just in time for the busy spring and summer seasons.

The Recreation Park Board’s executive committee, meeting Monday afternoon, March 9 at the Board of Education’s Central Office with five of six members on hand, approved the bid packet for the equipment and voted to advertise for bids for playground equipment. The advertisement for bids, which will be published two weeks and opened at the next Healthy Hometown Coalition meeting, appears in the legal section of this week’s Clinton County News.

The park board has been working on the project for some time, including holding fundraisers and taking community and individual donations to help purchase new and much needed playground equipment and last year received a major boost that put them over the top when the Healthy Hometown Coalition was able to offer grant funds to be used toward the project.

Among those larger grants and donations included funds from and grants secured by the Clinton County Community Coalition as well as a grant from Cumberlad Family Medical.

The proposal, or bid packet, was put together with specifications for bidders by Park Director Bobby Reneau and board secretary and Healthy Hometown Coalition member Paula Little and was approved by the park board executive committee at its first meeting.

The proposal calls for bids to be received by the Healthy Hometown Coalition by Monday, March 23 at 12 noon Central Time and for the bids to be submitted to the Clinton County Board of Education office.

The amount for the equipment, according to the bid specifications, is not to exceed $75,000.

The specifications indicate that “The Clinton County Healthy Hometown Coalition desires to purchase a themed playground structure that is eye-catching, aesthetically pleasing, unique, and safe for children,” and also lists several components desired, including for recommended ages of 5-12 years, with a child capacity of 60 or more among several other criteria.

The specifications also list border material criteria and manufacturer requirements.

Little noted that several different organizations and individuals have been involved in helping raise funds to make the playground project successful and Reneau said he expected to receive up to five or six bids on the playground equipment, which will include delivery and installation.

The old, outdated playground equipment will be removed once new equipment is purchased.

The park board would like to thank everyone who helped in any way in making the project a reality.

The committee also briefly discussed concession sales during the upcoming Little League season and the possibility of hosting a softball tournament for adults/kids later in the year, as well as approving the monthly treasurer’s report.

The executive committee was formed last December by the full park board as a means of allowing business to be conducted in the event a quorum could not be gathered, or as in the case of last month when the regular meeting was cancelled due to inclement weather.

The next regular meeting of the full Recreation Park Board is scheduled for Thursday, March 26 at 6 p.m. at the park and is open to the general public.