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In response to Council Member Claire's questions regarding the timeline for Stafford and Stulsaft Parks renovations, Director Griffiths advised that changes made tonight would involve "modifying the existing proposal that we have from the landscape architects to encompass anything new or less than what has been proposed with them." Director Griffiths described the deletions to the original plans submitted by MIG and approved by Council, including removing the bathrooms in Stafford (placed in separate restroom renovation program) downscaling the arbor structure to a shade structure or park pavilion, and reducing the water facility by about 50%. City Manager Everett said the new figure in the budget, $825,000, was based on those changes. Council Member Claire said budgets are not written in concrete. He advised that the first estimate for the two park project was a guess based on the best information available at that time. Council Member Claire said, "We need those parks to be what they were designed to be, and I know we have the money. We have $8.5 million in the bank collecting interest." Council Member Claire said an earlier Council established a policy that the City must have at least $4.9 million on reserve at all time. He said he would prefer to see part of the $2 million additional funds go towards full funding for the parks as originally designed. Council Member Claire also agreed that new and renovated fields were a priority, but he said field needs have been decreasing over the years. He suggested scheduling coordination between the leagues would help this situation. Council Member Claire said his grandchildren play in a park in the City of Dublin which had done a great job with children's parks. He said he also wanted to allocate a portion of the $2 million for a temporary skate board park. He said for those reasons he could not support the motion. Vice Mayor Ruskin said he was dubious about eliminating restrooms in the parks, and although they get vandalized and hard to maintain, he said it was impractical not to have them. Vice Mayor Ruskin said when the final design and final budget figures were in, "we could take a final look at what the parks needed, consider it here at Council, and then my hope was to (include) restrooms in the parks." In answer to Council Member Claire's regarding park renovation costs, City Manager Everett and Director Griffiths advised that the current budget was $825,000 based on deletions approved by Council. They said the original design was $1,025,000 which included soft costs for architectural services, contingencies, inspection and testing. Council Member Claire said that the difference between a great park and an adequate park was only $200,000. He said the City had spent a lot of money on parks in other neighborhoods and he wanted to see a list of those expenditures. Council Member Claire said he still supported allocating the additional money to the two park project. Vice Mayor Ruskin said Council Member Hartnett was ill tonight, but had told him that he was in support of allocating the $2 million in the manner proposed in the motion. REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTE BOOK NO. 56 MAY 11, 1998 MINUTES Page No. 476 PAGE 27