We are grateful for the support of Victory of the Lamb and at no point have they ever turned on us or left our mission. They did grant us permission to decide on an alternate site, if we were put in that position and supported our choice. Mayor Steve Olson has been strong and encouraging throughout this journey and we believe he has our best interests in mind. In writing his veto, he’s not indicating that he is unwilling to work with the county, and that is a terrible misconception being put out there in fear of interfering with other projects in progress with the county. Mayor Olson simply believes that the county’s process is unlikely to fulfill the time requirements for the playground no matter how much cooperation there is.
When it comes to our site choice, we have spent hours upon hours going over the information we were given, visiting the sites, taking pictures, and discussing. There is nothing political behind our choice of Pleasant View, we just simply believe it is the best option for Kayla’s Playground. We looked at Lions Legends, as we realized the central location is a benefit to our community. The issue with the fire station is one that cannot be avoided. Our playground’s mission and vision is to include people with special needs, which many include being sensitive to unexpected loud noises. This was experienced first hand with Kayla, and upon testing the sirens from the suggested location it was quickly determined that it could very well startle and cause seizures in these individuals. We are just truly trying not to risk the health of others or exclude a population we are trying to invite.
Froemming was an option that we also looked into. If you drive to Froemming, you see a wide-open space on the right and may think that is a viable space for a playground. This is not the space intended for our playground. This space is laid out for a future tennis court complex. If you look to the left you see a narrow, low-lying area. This would be home to Kayla’s Playground. The area would need to be filled and would be located next to a creek. There is also a ton of maintenance that needs to be done to make the sidewalks, parking lots and any other ground wheelchair accessible. The biggest issue is obviously that it is not owned by the city, it is owned by the county. We have no negative words to speak about the county and appreciate any effort that has been put forth, but the matter of the fact is, we don’t have time to go through the process of adding another layer of government to the project. Our goal is to build in September!
Pleasant View Neighborhood Park is the final location. Driving up you’d see a round about, a parking lot, and a lot of open land. Previously in the city’s budget is to put in a tennis court, volleyball court, basketball court, baseball field, pavilion, and a playground. The city would need to re-locate the previously paved surface intended for the tennis courts. Other than that, this location saves the city a significant amount of money. $232,050 was already allotted in the budget to put in a pavilion, and we were not told how much was allotted for the playground that could go in. Regardless if we were to build there or not, that money would be spent and those things would go in. We do realize that our pavilion is a little bigger and our playground is bigger as well, but the difference in price with that budget already in place should surely help the city and it’s taxpayers. Pleasant View had its cons, like any other site, but seemed to make the most sense to us. The land is flat and ready to build on tomorrow, no hoops to jump through because it is already a city owned park.
We are not here to offend people and are doing what we can to inform our supporters with respect and courtesy. Please keep in mind that we have worked hard for the $200,000 we are donating and we have made many sacrifices and compromises along this journey. We started at The Rock and that fell through, and we then visited many of the same sites we just analyzed, but were not offered any land from the city until Victory of the Lamb stepped up. When the opportunity presented itself, we entered a partnership with the city in good faith and were given the okay to have a design day, which was attended by city officials, and to begin the process. That process has a timeline associated with it which we are already behind, and we have people already committed to help with the build, supply food, and we have already ordered equipment. After a long road we thought we were finally on the fast track to our mission, and most of the council did as well, until we were asked to re-consider and have an open mind to alternate locations due to cost. This was certainly unexpected, but we felt it was our duty as community citizens so we did it. We were asked to make pros and cons and do our research, we did. We met with Pastor Ben and we discussed choices if VOTL was voted off the table, and he gave his support and blessing to pursue Pleasant View. We did not give anyone an ultimatum but please understand we are also trying to find the optimal location for our playground and also keeping our responsibility to represent our community, as we have collectively raised $200,000. We have nothing but kind words to say about our supporters, Victory of the Lamb, and Mayor Olson. We are also thankful for Alderwoman Evans, Alderman Dandrea, and Alderwoman Mayer for their continued support. We hope that you all see the good intentions we have and if you have any questions at all, we welcome them. Thank you also to those of you who have found it in your hearts to reach out to your alderperson for us. We hope to see you all in your purple, Monday at 5:30pm.
With continued gratitude,
Kayla’s Krew.