To Aberdeen Parks & Rec: Mr. Harris, I know there are continuously problems and challenges with keeping Aberdeen parks clean and free of garbage, vandalism, etc. I know its been an ongoing concern of a lot of people, but nevertheless, I have to mention the circumstances I encountered yesterday. I took my two children to Sam Benn park yesterday to enjoy the weather. My 2 year old is in the middle of potty training, and therefore we put her on the potty every 20 minutes. My 11 month old is still in diapers of course, but he doesnt like to be held and hes too young for the toys, so he likes to crawl around in the grass. Yesterday, May 12, 2014 at 2pm, both bathrooms at the park were locked, even though there are large signs saying that the bathrooms are locked at 4pm. I took my 2 year old into the port-a-potty to use the bathroom, but it was covered in blood. The other was covered in poop, as someone had just used the floor instead of the toilet, and neither had toilet paper in them. I called the port-a-potty company and they were no help. Shortly after, my kids and I were sitting in the grass, eating strawberries, and my 11month old crawled through a large pile of dog poop. Oh, no, better clean him up! Nevermind, theres not a sink in sight because the bathrooms are locked. The weather is supposed to be in the 70s-80s all week, so the parks will be packed. Is this going to be the condition of the parks for the remainder of our hot days? I really hope not, because my kids dont like to be indoors all day. Also, I noticed that one of the toys was out of order, surrounded my caution tape and a do not use sign. The caution tape was ripped up and the sign was UNDER the toy. There were several children using the toy. I dont know if its been deemed unsafe, or if it is just un-usable, but I think the signs need to be put back up or the toy is going to be further damaged by kids using it while its broken. Just thought Id let you know. Thanks.Ashley, Im sorry that you had a bad experience at Sam Benn yesterday. Yes, there are many inconsiderate people out there who have nothing better to do than crap on the floors of portable restrooms. No, what you experience yesterday was not our expectations for the conditions of the park either. I have spoken to the crew. No excuses, but I would like to let you know our procedures. Beginning in the spring, we open the restrooms on a daily basis. They are hosed out, sprayed with disinfectant and filled back with new supplies. We are constantly struggling with our decision to keep the restrooms open at night or not. If we leave them open, then homeless people set up camp and start fires in them. If we lock them up, then citizens can not use them and others just go on the outside door. This is why we have been providing portable restrooms year round. They are supposed to be cleaned by the company that provides them to us a couple times a week. I will check with them to see if they have been completing their end of the deal. I have asked our crew to start looking into the portable restrooms and cleaning anything that they can when they go to the park each day. Regarding the piece of play equipment, yes it is broken, but it is not a safety hazard. The rocking mechanism under it snapped, so does not move like it should. The crew should be replacing the tape and signs on a daily basis until the replacement part comes in. Once again, I apologize for the park. I hope that you have a great summer. Karl Harris
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 22:37:29 +0000
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