It's Second Week of the Month Time Again!

The Monona Park and Recreation Board will meet on Tuesday May 11th, 6pm in the Monona Community Center. We will continue our discussion of the Monona Parks and Open Spaces plan with reports on Oneida, Woodland, Three Meadows and Bridge Road Parks. The Board will also have discussion about the "Blue Park" Playground Equipment Replacement RFP. The Blue Park, as it is known by tons of Monona's kids, is slated to be removed and replaced this year. Jake Anderson is requesting $70K of capital improvement funds to cover new equipment that would be comparable to the existing structure, as well as the cost of replacing the sand ground covering with rubberized mulch. The rubberized mulch will cost an estimated $12K. I have been accused of being an old-fashioned old fogey before, mainly because I like to use what we already have. I'm not a Bigger!Brighter!Newer!=Better! type of person; there's a lot of value to using and improving what we have. I'm also not a fan of this cyclical replacement mentality; just because something has been around for 15 years doesn't mean that it's time to replace it with the latest and greatest trend. However, I have been grudgingly convinced that the Blue Park should be replaced, mainly because I have long since realized it will be replaced whether I like the idea or not. My last stronghold, though, is Director Anderson's plan to replace the sand around the play structure with that nasty rank rubberized mulch. It's a wonderment to me that I or any of my wild and woolly friends managed to survive our childhoods without the cushioning protection of chopped up used car tires. Is it just me, or does it strike anyone else as a little odd that we are now wholeheartedly convinced that our children will die on our playgrounds if they don't have a bunch of chemical-based synthetic junk to fall on? When did this idea take hold? I thought parents didn't even allow their children to fall down anymore.

From http://www.natureswayresources.com/ :

Research at Bucknell University has found that the leachate from ground tires can kill entire aquatic communities of algae, zooplankton, snails and fish. Even at low concentrations it can cause reproductive problems and precancerous lesions. Also, marine life from seaweeds to plankton is negatively affected.The toxic nature of the leachate from tire rubber is due at least in part to the chemicals usedin producing tires (cadmium, chromium, aluminum, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, sulfur, and zinc). Of these minerals, rubber tires may contain extremely high levels of zinc even up to 2% of the tire mass. Many plant species have been shown to accumulate zinc in their tissues to the point of death. USDA researchers who have studied the effects of metals in sewage sludge, biosolids and compost, have found that ground rubber should not be used on any agricultural or garden soil, potting media, or compost. Yes- some companies use tire chips and crumb rubber as a bulking agent for compost and we wonder why the compost does not work and is toxic to plants! Other rubber leachates have been found to cause problems from skin and eye irritation to major organ damage and even death. Long term exposure can lead to carcinogenesis and mutagenesis. For example, 2-mercaptobenzothiazole used in vulcanizing rubber is highly persistent in the environment and harmful to aquatic life. Ground rubber also contains a class of chemicals called Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that many studies have found extremely toxic to humans and the environment. Research has also found that the toxicity of leachate from the
rubber tire mulch increases over time as the rubber breaks down.

Read this article at http://http://www.natureswayresources.com/DocsPdfs/RubberMulch.pdf .

This is what we want to spend $12K on to dump right next to the Winnequah Lagoon? I would really like to see the Blue Park covered with adequate fall zone protection with whatever depth of sand is necessary. Not only is it cheaper, cleaner, less smelly and a whole lot more fun to play in, it won't leach into our ground water and kill off our aquatic wildlife. Call me an old fogey.

Also on tap for Park and Rec. Board: From Director Jake Anderson "Mayor Robb Kahl has requested that the existing soccer/football field at Ahuska Park be named Tom Metcalfe Field after former Mayor Tom Metcalfe. Kahl states that Tom Metcalfe was the Mayor of Monona at the time of the park being built and was instrumental in turning the site into a usable park. This would be the first step in any naming process. There would be a 30 day public input notice before the Park and Recreation Board could make a recommendation one way or another."


The Monona Grove Board of Education will meet this Wednesday evening at 7pm in the District Office Board Room in Nichols School. Unfinished business includes the discussion and possible approval of 2010-2011 Teacher Final Notices of Layoff and the possible approval of the location of the MG Alternative High School and general discussion of the Nichols Building. The two items of new business are the discussion and possible approval of district computer bids and the student fee schedule.

The Monona Family Attraction and Retention Committee will meet this Thursday in the Monona City Hall Conference Room at 6:30pm. Alderman Doud Wood will become our committee's new co-chair with Alderman Scott Munson serving as the new chairman. We plan on having a review of the Family Attraction Committee's charge and mission and a brainstorming session on future committee projects. We will also begin discussing this year's Fall Family Festival and hope to choose a date in the early fall. As always, we would welcome any volunteers to assist in the festival planning. The 2009 Festival was wonderful; we hope this year will bring another success!