Mt. Airy investing in children with playground upgrades

MT. AIRY - Mt. Airy Town Park soon will have more options for young children.

During Monday night's meeting, the Mt. Airy Town Council approved spending $15,000 to add additional playground equipment in the town park.

The park, dedicated in 2007, is located on property donated by Community Bank & Trust on Tower Terrace just off Dicks Hill Parkway.

"I spent some time today looking at the finances, and we had talked about budgeting for the last couple of years - I think actually we had talked about setting aside something like $5,000 each year to add to the park from the city," said Mayor Gary Morris. "We have got those funds available. I would say we spend somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000 on playground equipment."

Councilman Ray McAllister made the motion to spend $15,000 on the playground equipment, with Councilwoman Linda Hughes seconding. The vote was unanimous.

Mayor Pro Tem Mike McCoy clarified the town is going to spend $15,000, then use $3,000 raised by the Mt. Airy Civic Association to augment the purchase.

"To me, it's a kids investment," McAllister said. "You can't go wrong investing in your children in the city."

Morris, McAllister and others agreed the park is used by a lot of people.

Town officials have some playground equipment in mind, but will be deciding what to order in the coming days.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2014/4/273511