Chad, the park superintendent for the Town of Stratford, told the parks commission that crews have finished installing rubber tree wells along Barnum Avenue and are preparing for seasonal maintenance and upcoming playground renovations.

He said the Barnum Avenue project replaced metal grates with porous rubber wells "which is porous. It allows rain in, allows gas exchanges, and it flexes as the trees grow." The change affects about 80 tree wells, he said.

The town is finalizing playground designs for Booth Park, Stony Brook and one park identified as Motel. Chad said the work remains in design and will proceed as budgets allow. He warned that recent changes to the state bid process affect procurement: "If the state bid contract goes over a hundred thousand, it's up to the municipality to go after that," and projects above that threshold trigger prevailing‑wage requirements and a competitive bid process, which can lengthen timelines.

Chad also outlined the town’s annual post‑holiday Christmas tree pickup, saying crews typically run collections for about four weeks starting roughly the week of Jan. 12, though pickups sometimes extend when residents miss the scheduled collections. "We usually do it for about 4 weeks, but it always goes beyond," he said.

Commissioners asked whether playground equipment would be age‑specific; Chad said Booth Park will have both 2‑to‑5 and 5‑to‑12 components and that other park playgrounds will be evaluated by location and proximity to other facilities. He estimated the town has about 26 playgrounds when counting school and park sites.

The superintendent said the town will present park playground plans to the commission for review before going out to bid.

Less urgent maintenance items mentioned in the report included routine winter cleanup and tree work. No formal action was taken at the meeting; commissioners received the report and asked for follow‑up details on scopes and timelines.