City, county undergo improvements on local grounds
Some area parks are gaining tons of weight.
There is an array of work underway at several parks, in the city
and county jurisdiction. Both Hollister and San Benito County crews
this past week have been busy at such parks as Veterans Memorial,
Dunne and Hernandez. Some of the work is the responsibility of the
city, and the county is doing some of it, depending on the
park.
City, county undergo improvements on local grounds
Some area parks are gaining tons of weight.
There is an array of work underway at several parks, in the city and county jurisdiction. Both Hollister and San Benito County crews this past week have been busy at such parks as Veterans Memorial, Dunne and Hernandez. Some of the work is the responsibility of the city, and the county is doing some of it, depending on the park.
In county limits, there is work underway at three parks, much of it at Veterans Memorial Park. The most heavy lifting, however, has been on the city side. Hollister, through a grant from Integrated Waste Management, has installed or is installing recycled rubber material to replace sand and tan bark at six parks. In some of the locations, it has involved the pouring of nearly 60 tons of recycled content from Hollister-based West Coast Rubber Recycling.
City leaders expect the new material will be safer in general, being more shock absorbent, and should prevent some of the prior issues such as the sand getting used as ashtrays for smokers and litter boxes for stray or outdoor cats.
As of Wednesday, city crews already had finished installing the tire material at two of the locations – Tony Aguirre Park and John Z. Hernandez Park, said Julian Gaytan, a parks official with the city. They were placing the tire material at Dunne Park on Wednesday and from there planned to do the same at Valley View, Las Brisas and Klauer parks, according to the city.
“We’re trying to get it done before the deadline,” said Gaytan, referring to the March 31 date in accordance with the $150,000 grant.
Gaytan explained how it usually takes about two days to remove the old material and install the recycled tire. It takes a day to remove the bark or sand and another to install the rubber shards.
Crews install the material nine inches up from the ground, he said. The amount varies depending on the park. At Hernandez, they laid about 24 tons. At Aguirre Park, which is larger, they laid around 57 tons, he said.
“It seems to be going pretty well,” he said.
The work is going smoothly in the county parks, too. The public works department is using the last of its Prop. 40 grant funds, while it has done the work over a two-year period, said Adam Goldstone, capital projects manager.
At Veterans Memorial Park this week, county crews were doing such upgrades as rebuilding a couple of picnic shelters and adding another, putting in new fencing, and installing playground equipment.
Another county project is at the historical park, where crews did such work as installing wood fencing.
And in a joint effort between the county and city at McCarthy Park near San Andreas School, workers have installed playground equipment and fencing, along with picnic tables and other items, Goldstone said.
