Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 05/11/2023

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Emerald Pond Park Emerald Pond is an approximate 14-acre neighborhood park in southeastern Ramsey, located east of CSAH 57 / Sunfish Lake Boulevard, north of CSAH 116 / Bunker Lake Boulevard, and south of Alpine Drive. Park amenities include a single baseball diamond and a soccer field, a pergola with fountain, as well as a basketball hoop in the parking lot. Its playground was built in 1997. The playground uses pea gravel for surfacing. Emerald's playground consists of three components —a seesaw spring rider, a swing set, and a large composite play structure. The seesaw's surface is well-worn from use, with paint chipped and metal beginning to rustin some places, but it is still functional. The swing set is mostly in good condition, albeit with someof the chains exhibiting rust. The swing set consists of three bays, two with two belt swings each, and the third with two bucket swings. The play structure consists of eight means of entry —a curved metal ladder with eight semi - rectangular rungs; a pair of transfer platforms next to a clatter bridge; another transfer platform on the opposite side of the clatter bridge; a chain -link ladder with three rungs for footholds and two curved metal bars for handholds; a corkscrew climber; two sets of wide metal ladders with two footholds each and two semicircular bars (opposite one another) each; and a narrow staircase with three steps and two curved metal bars for handholds. Additionally, it features five slides one short straight slide with two parallel tracks, one straight slide with a single hump in the middle, one short curved slide rotating 90 degrees, one curved slide rotating 360 degrees, and one enclosed zig-zagging slide. The enclosed slide has drainage issues, with water occasionally pooling at the bottom, but this does not pose a safety issue. All of the slides are in good condition otherwise. The other plastic components two tunnels, two interactive sensory components with 3 x 3 rotatable blocks with letters on them, most of the guardrails, and a roof are in good condition. Adjacent to the clatter bridge is a set of flat monkey bars with a curved path. Two of the metal shafts in adjacent sections of the monkey bar structure are not completely flush, which is not a safety issue in and of itself, but should be repaired outside of a full playground replacement. On the opposite side of the playground structure, there are two sets of monkey bars as well as a track -ride, linked together by a triangular transfer platform. One of the sets has flat bars while the other has six rings suspended by short chains, the latter linking the former as well as the track -ride with the rest of the play structure. Figure 32: Emerald Pond Park Playground (looking northeast) 15