Haslet Park Board approves holiday light display purchases, seeks volunteers for Christmas staffing

The Haslet Park Board on Aug. 13 voted to buy four new holiday light structures for display at the city''s Christmas in the Park and discussed staffing and installation details for holiday features including a slide and tree wrapping. Board members reviewed a vendor sale and a proposed purchase that included Mrs. Claus, a penguin-on-sled, a Santa dump truck and an elf-kissing-reindeer figure. The group applied a 20 percent discount to the vendor list-price total and concluded the four items could be procured for roughly $3,000 plus taxes; a motion to approve the purchase was made on the record and carried with no opposition. Volunteer and staffing concerns: board members said the slide rental company was fully booked for the holiday period and that the board would need volunteers or an independent-contractor agreement to staff and monitor the slide. The board discussed possible sources for volunteers, including local youth needing service hours and asking the sheriff''s office about community-service participants; a board member said background checks and suitability for working with children would need to be addressed. Tree wrapping and decorations: city staff and board members discussed soliciting bids for wrapping the large park tree and for wrapping individual trees throughout Grama Park; one staff member said they would obtain price quotes from regular vendors and the Haslet Feed Store (which has provided lifting equipment in the past). The board also reviewed which decorations remain in inventory, whether some inflatables had shorted and needed repair, and the idea of buying one or two new pieces each year to spread costs. Other event planning: the board confirmed dates for Movie in the Park (The Wild Robot, Sept. 19, at Nance Field) and National Night Out (Oct. 7, 6''8 p.m., Community Park). Members asked staff to follow up on sources for rope or landscape lattice to mark tree areas and to obtain bids for professional tree-wrapping because the work is labor intensive and requires lifts. Actions and next steps: staff will solicit bids for tree wrapping and follow up on volunteer options for slide monitoring. The board authorized procurement of the four light structures and directed staff to coordinate logistics and installation timelines; the decorations purchase will proceed subject to final invoice and tax calculations. Limitations: the board said some costs (taxes, shipping and hardware) will increase the final price; members also cautioned that more-complex animated decorations can have higher maintenance needs.