Clarkston outlines Pony Express plans; council to replace playground slide before event

Council members spent part of the meeting finalizing plans for the upcoming Pony Express festival and addressing related site maintenance.

Council members and volunteers confirmed entertainment, booths and activities: Rough Stock was discussed for a dance, bounce houses and a family ball game are planned, Dan Cooper will run a car show and youth council volunteers will manage teen games and moving activities in the park. Ryan Darcy was named as coordinator for one race event.

The council discussed site logistics, including dumpster delivery (estimated in one to two weeks) and whether to replace a damaged playground slide before the festival. A speaker recited cost estimates and urged a decision: “Do a straight slide because it was $6,600 and the curved slide was $2,500 unless anybody objects to that,” the transcript records. Council members indicated they would check dumpster estimates and proceed with slide replacement depending on the final numbers. A separate maintenance item—a broken 2-inch sprinkler line at the cemetery—was reported and a contractor was scheduled to repair it on Friday.

Council members encouraged resident volunteers and confirmed that proceeds or receipts from Pony Express activities could be returned to the youth council for next year’s budget. No formal contract or binding appropriation for the slide replacement was recorded at the meeting; the discussion focused on logistics and preliminary cost estimates.