The Leesburg Parks and Recreation Commission endorsed replacing swings and installing bonded rubber surfacing at Fox Ridge Park and replacing swings and installing bonded surfacing around swings at Billy Cox Park.

A Parks and Recreation staff member presented the scope: at Fox Ridge the plan calls for replacing all swings and placing bonded surfacing around the entire playground; at Billy Cox staff proposed replacing the swings and adding bonded surfacing around the swings only. "At Billy Cox over here, we're replacing the swings that are there, and we're putting the bonded surface around the swings," the staff member said during the meeting.

Commissioners voiced general support for the material, citing previous successful installations at other town playgrounds. One commissioner noted that the material is already in use at several locations and reported no operational issues. "We haven't had any issue with any other sites," a commissioner said of prior bonded-surface installations.

A dissenting view came from Commissioner Alvin, who raised long-term health and material concerns and questioned existing testing. "They did the PFAS analysis and all that, but that stuff is incomplete," Alvin said. The commissioner also expressed a broader hesitation about rubberized surfaces; staff noted that the town has previously completed PFAS testing for similar installations.

After discussion, commissioners stated their endorsement for moving forward with the bonded surfaces as described; no formal roll-call vote was recorded on the record. Staff said the work will proceed at the scope described if funding and procurement proceed according to the department’s schedule and budget.

Implementation details provided by staff: Fox Ridge will receive the full playground bonded surface similar to the town’s top playground; Billy Cox will receive bonded surfacing around swing areas only because current-year funding does not cover a full playground replacement. Staff said the current fiscal year lacks funding for full playground replacement at both sites, so projects rely on the parks capital plan or next year’s budget if additional work is requested.

Commissioners asked that the project move forward with the bonded material used successfully elsewhere in town, while recording concern from at least one member about long-term safety testing. Staff will proceed with procurement and scheduling under existing capital plans and return to the commission if scope or funding changes.