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-EUGENE <br /> Public Works <br /> Maintenance Division <br /> City of Eugene <br /> 1820 Roosevelt Boulevard <br /> MEMORANDUM Eugene, Oregon 97402 <br /> (541) 682-4800 <br /> (541) 682-4882 FAX <br /> Date: February 17, 2000 <br /> To: City Councilor Gary Rayor <br /> From: Tim Rhay, Parks Maintenance Manager <br /> Subject: Maintenance Activity at Tugman Park <br /> A copy of my most recent letter to Mr. Ed Barthelemy, in response to his concerns about the merry-go- <br /> round in Tugman Park, is enclosed. Mr. Barthelemy makes a valid point. We had intended to move <br /> the merry-go-round into the playground area last summer and did not accomplish this. The work will <br /> be done this coming summer. <br /> I've included some additional detail concerning City maintenance and renovation activity at Tugman <br /> Park to bring you up to date on this issue. Tugman Park was built in the 1960's using design and <br /> construction methodology that was "state-of-the-art" at the time, but has subsequently been replaced by <br /> improved techniques. Like other parks in south Eugene, the native soil has a high clay content and <br /> becomes saturated quickly in the rainy part of the year. At Tugman Park, this has historically been <br /> exacerbated by periodic flooding when Tugman Creek overflowed its banks during storm events. The <br /> playground, situated near the creek and filled with organic wood shavings that decomposed and <br /> plugged drains, became a large puddle (or small lake) several times each winter. In effect, it was only <br /> available for play in the summer months. This is the situation documented in Mr. Barthelemy's earliest <br /> pictures, from two years ago. <br /> Upon my appointment as Acting Parks Maintenance Manager in February of 1998, I met with each of <br /> the City's parks maintenance crews to discuss their work plans and concerns. The need to renovate the <br /> play area at Tugman Park was already on the Park Amenities Crew's project list at that time. One of <br /> my first citizen group contacts in this role was with the Southeast Neighbors, who expressed additional <br /> concerns about Tugman Park, principally involving park security, graffiti, and other vandalism. We <br /> worked cooperatively with Eugene Police to discourage illegal activity at the park, resulting in the <br /> arrest of one of the principal vandals. Overgrown vegetation was replaced or pruned to provide better <br /> visibility and improved lighting as well as landscape aesthetics. <br /> In the summer and fall of 1998, when the soil was dry and would support heavy equipment, Public <br /> Works Maintenance staffers from several crews worked to solve the problems with the playground. <br /> All the pre-existing wood shavings and underlying "muck" were excavated and removed from the <br /> playground. New drain pipe, rock, geotextile fabric, and beach sand were installed by City staff. A <br /> number of damaged cement walks in the vicinity of the playground were repaired. The basketball <br /> court was expanded and a second backboard and hoop installed. (This improvement also closed off one <br />