Council discusses ARPA-funded playground upgrades, shade structures and facility repairs

Clawson councilors spent substantial time discussing how to use a remaining ARPA allocation for playground and facility improvements.

Unidentified Speaker 1 noted "the mountain of wood chips we had in there today" and opened a conversation about using leftover funds for a playground, noting earlier discussion had focused on wood chips and that "any funds left over would be used to paint the outside glass and floors." Unidentified Speaker 4 said, "There's 22,000 if it's still because we got the wood chips for 8,000," referencing available funds and a vendor quote in the transcript. Members discussed buying one or two shade structures, benches inside the playground, and whether shade units should be permanent or removable to reduce winter damage.

Councilors also reviewed bathroom equipment issues: Speaker 7 said current sensor hand dryers sometimes cycle and trip breakers, and the group weighed the trade-offs between sensor dryers and supplying paper towels (more garbage). For next steps the council asked members to find product options and pricing; one member proposed collecting quotes and, if needed, approving a purchase by text and ratifying it at a subsequent meeting.

Other facility and site maintenance items discussed included inspecting exterior lighting and adding door sweeps to reduce leaf ingress, using topsoil to improve seeding on an upper cemetery plot, and possible equipment needs such as a skid steer or mini-excavator with a 3-foot bucket for cemetery work. No formal vote on procurement or contracts was recorded; the discussion concluded with direction to gather quotes and return with firm numbers.

Quotes and funding referenced in the discussion will require confirmation; the council did not record contract awards in this meeting's transcript.