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Minutes of a Meeting of the North Olmsted Parks and Recreation Commission November 6, 2006 Page Eight of the room, estimating 20 feet. Is that three steps? Someone said, no, four steps. Four risers. Ms. Adams said the only picture she saw was one step, so it was difficult for her to understand. (The first photo next to the bench shows the size of the stair risers). Ms. Adams asked where the one step was. Mr. Meyer said the one step is a single step….that’s an excellent question: it’s supposed to be…it’s at the far left: you see the dash lines make a roof symbol, and there’s a step where you can go up 12 inches. At three you can make a 12 inch step pretty easily. If you’re less than three, it’s appropriate to have these at six inch increments. Mr. Meyer was asked by Mr. Malone how to clean the surface of the playground. He replied that it would be with a hose; merely rinsing it off. Water takes it away. It can be pressure washed if it gets very dirty. He has seen playgrounds 12 or 15 years old that never washed. It was noted that if the Company changed the topography of the ground instead of the playground area being flat, the high and low aspects could be minimized. The reply to this statement was that bringing in dirt would be costly and, secondly, the adventure level of the kids would be lowered. It’s a good question. Most of the time when the Company changed topography, there was a slope for the site where it could be done at very little cost. Right now, the pitch must still be made, and it must be supported at random. In this City, it would not be cost effective. Mr. Lasko asked how the edges of the playground would meet the surrounding ground. The diagram indicated that the pathways are 4’1”, and from that 4’ width, the Company would be beveling down six inches that’s exposing and going down into the soil so, again, the topsoil comes up and meets that edge. There’s a four foot width and a radius of six inches at the sides. The only place that it would not occur is depending on what the ground material would be; if it’s concrete it would abut, if it’s a rubber curve, that rubber curve would sit on top of it. Mr. Lasko asked if it was not pieces, if it was two different fours of solid stone: you have two different fours, one for the base and one for the top? Mr. Meyer said that the question is: when this material is installed, how is it done. First, it’s mixed just like concrete is mixed, troweled into place just as if a driveway was being troweled, the base is done first. It’s allowed to cure. The top is a hand pitch of new rubber; the base is recycled tires cut into shreds. Mr. Lasko asked if there would be a seam; he was told that the only time there would be a seam is if the City wanted to have the kidney shape a different color from the sidewalk or you wanted to create patterns. There are different colors and there would be a cold seam that would abut together. There is a tendency for that to open up over time. The way to correct that, if it happens, is to take a squeeze bottle and fill that with the same fluid you used to put it together initially. Ms. Adams asked about the talking tube – it looks like it’s out there independently – is that actually what it is? Mr. Meyer said there are two elements: one is that the child talks through one, there’s a pipe that goes underground and comes up the other side, and the other child can talk; so it’s like having Styrofoam cups on a string – you can hear from one side to the other. It’s just that the label is out there. The picture looks like it says “pool” and its got wheels, and is the bench permanently Page 8