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Minutes of a Meeting of the <br />North Olmsted Parks and Recreation Commission <br />November 6, 2006 <br />Page Five <br /> <br />the child would have the upper body strength to do this, that the child could pull himself from the chair <br />and be dry and clean when using the equipment. The third element is that the child is prone as a <br />handicapped person out of the chair or out of the walker or cane or crutches. That child is in a <br />position where every other able-bodied child is running around. While the handicapped child is <br />integrated in a way, he really isn’t, because he would be using the equipment in a manner that is not <br />upright. The point of having a platform and a ramp is so that the children can access, whatever the <br />mobility, and use all the features on the platform. Basically, the disabled child will be as equal or as <br />accessible as can be. The child could get to the majority of the features without having the chair, <br />crutches, etc. <br /> <br />Mr. Barker asked about the wetness/dryness and whether the water was absorbed or repelled or <br />drained. Mr. Meyer said that water goes right through the surface into the stone base beneath it, so <br />it’s always dry, as long as the soil’s not frozen below it, where everything is backed up and the <br />drainage system is fully saturated and can’t accept water. The kidney-shaped area will be slightly <br />above grade, so not only will the water go through the water and incorporate into the stone, but it can <br />also exit at its edges. It will be a brutal situation where the top two inches would be saturated, frozen, <br />or otherwise waterlogged. <br /> <br />Mr. Garrity asked if there would be a way to pull out individual play stations, in future years, put a <br />new activity station in and fix the rubberized surface? Mr. Meyer said that most of the elements are <br />panel that are connected between posts, so the posts or the rubber surface is not interrupted to replace <br />the panel. Everything is attached with stainless steel brackets with stainless steel, vandal-proof <br />hardware (there is a flattened head on one side and a pin on the other that cannot be bought at a local <br />hardware store). The panels are interchangeable; if something doesn’t work, the City will not be <br />locked into the same play stations. <br /> <br />Mr. Baxter asked what age group the above playground area would comprise, and what age group the <br />existing facility comprise. Mr. Meyer said it would be for two through five year olds. The playground <br />it is replacing is for that age group as well. The one that is further east is for five through twelve year <br />olds. The standards require that there be separate facilities for each age group, since they are different <br />in size, as well as what the children are able to do for each age group. Secondly, as a preschooler, it’s <br />very easy to be intimidated by an older user group. So, two through five year-olds have features for <br />them. In theory at least, their parents would be monitoring their activities as opposed to something <br />that’s much taller, generally out of range, much more challenging and perhaps even dangerous for their <br />use. <br /> <br />Ms. Wenger said that the two to five year old equipment was due to be replaced last year, so when the <br />City applied for the grant, it was included in the plan because we knew that replacing both (two to five <br />and five to twelve) would have exceeded the grant monies the City could have obtained. It’s also <br />somewhat of a pilot project. Also, the five to twelve year old equipment has been much more <br />Page 5 <br /> <br />