Staff outlines playground assessment and recommends Wills Park and Phoenix Run for priority upgrades

La Plata public works staff on June 9 presented an inventory and third-party inspection results showing widespread aging of playground equipment and surfacing deficiencies across town parks. "In total, we have 18 parks and green spaces within town. 12 of those are parks with playgrounds and 6 extra green spaces," said Kristen DeMar, public works project manager, who led the presentation.

Staff said the town owns 10 parks and four playgrounds (Wills Park, Silver Linden, Agricopia and Phoenix Run tot lot) and that, with the exception of Agricopia, all town playgrounds have exceeded their expected 20-year life cycle. The inspections used roughly eight categories and assigned low, medium, or high safety ratings. "Fortunately, we had no high priority findings at any of our parks," DeMar said, but she added the audits found common issues including aged equipment, compliance deficiencies and deteriorated safety surfacing.

Based on the findings, staff recommended Wills Park be the first capital priority due to its size, exposure and safety concerns; Phoenix Run and the larger neighborhood park were recommended next if the town secures authorization for work across parcels owned by two homeowners associations. For small, isolated sites such as Hemlock Court and Patuxent Court staff recommended decommissioning or removing play equipment and reallocating resources to higher-value, accessible sites.

Council members pressed staff on community outreach, costs and funding sources. "Do we have any input or feedback from the communities immediately adjacent to the ones that we may be recommending to decommission?" asked Councilman Guttenberg. Staff said older outreach data exists but recommended follow-up engagement before final removal decisions. On funding, staff and council discussed impact fees, grants and a potential parks reserve fund; staff noted there is currently no dedicated parks revenue stream.

A key finding highlighted by staff: the town currently lacks an ADA-compliant park, and Wills Park is expected to be the first to meet those standards if funding moves forward. Staff said phased investment and continued safety monitoring will guide future budget requests and recommended using the assessment to prioritize FY26–31 capital planning.

Next steps: staff will use the assessment to craft capital requests for future budget cycles, follow up on community outreach for sites proposed for decommissioning, and return with cost estimates and recommended funding approaches.