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Mariemont council hears detailed Dogwood Park update; tot lot faces $150,000–$200,000 shortfall
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Summary
Village zoning officer Rod Holloway told council the baseball fields and loop trail are under budget but the planned tot lot likely needs an additional $150,000–$200,000. Council discussed shifting savings and pursuing HUD, community project funds and a Land and Water Conservation Fund match.
Village zoning officer Rod Holloway told the Village of Mariemont council that work at Dogwood Park is progressing but the project’s top-lot playground — the “tot lot” — will need additional funding to meet its original design.
“We’re under our budgeted amount that we had planned for the baseball fields, so much so that we also were able to add in a change order completion of the loop trail, all for about $637,000,” Holloway said. He later estimated the tot lot was “probably a 150 to $200,000 short” of the current base plan.
Holloway said contractor Team All Sports has been on-site since August but has been less productive in recent weeks after a heavy snowstorm; he said the contractor hopes to remobilize soon. The project team used value-engineering on the fields — including localized patching and revised infield work — to reduce costs while keeping field drainage functional. Holloway said the loop trail itself likely saved “about 40 or $50,000.”
Council members asked whether savings from the loop trail and field work could be reallocated to the tot lot; Holloway said yes, those savings reside in the same fund and can be applied to other Dogwood priorities. He and other council members discussed several potential funding sources: $330,000 in community-project funding already identified for Dogwood, an anticipated roughly $80,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant, and possible HUD-related funds. Holloway cautioned that using HUD money requires submitting a full project budget to HUD and that HUD’s process can take months, slowing some decisions.
Councilors raised the effect of prevailing-wage requirements tied to some matching grants. Holloway said that where grants trigger prevailing wage rules (Hamilton County), contractors may incur higher labor costs, which vendors often pass on in bids — possibly offsetting some grant value.
Council members asked for a clearer financial summary of Dogwood funding sources and restrictions. One council member requested a written breakdown that lists what has been spent, which sources are restricted to particular elements of the project, and which amounts are available for reallocation.
Holloway and the mayor said they would refine and circulate a clearer budget summary and present detailed priorities to standing committees for decisions on how to use the roughly $150,000–$200,000 currently short of the tot-lot plan. The council noted a grand opening planned for May and asked for the dogwood trees and sidewalk work to be completed by then if possible.
Next steps: staff will prepare a written budget summary showing fund sources and restrictions, committees will review priorities and council will revisit funding allocations once more detail is available.
