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Home My WebLink About06/15/2010 00 Misc Distributed at the Meetingbj s I-r, b y Q vl�� 4Ii, 11-0 Memorandum June 15, 2010 To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council City Manager Dick Zais From. Chris Waarvick, Director of Public Works Ken Wilkinson, Parks and Recreation Manager Subject: Downtown Rotary Playground at Kiwarus Park The original Kiwarus Park RCO grant application included a nommally -sized play facility A number of the improvements identified in the grant have been accomplished. We approached the Service Club Trust with a concept to marginally add to our $50,000 budget line for the play facility to accommodate children with disabilities. Craig Mendenhall, current Downtown Rotary President, enthusiastically embraced this effort as his signature presidential project. This project element is now estimated at over $150,000 and will be a "one of a kind" in the Northwest for children of all abilities! Back in August of 2009, Mike Shepard and Kelhe Connaughton from the Downtown Yakima Rotary Club met with Parks and Recreation staff to discuss the donation of funds for the playground at Kiwanis Park. A committee was formed and plans were set in motion. In November of 2009, three playground manufactures were interviewed and an in February 2010, Play Creation — Landscape Structures was selected by the committee. Potential components were identified for the playground and the students from Adams Elementary School made the final decision regarding the playground components. On April 29, 2010, the Downtown Yakima Rotary Club and City of Yakima Officials held a ground breaking ceremony on the site of the new playground at Kiwanis Park. Students from Adams Elementary School and some of their parents were also in attendance for the event. On Saturday, May 5, 2010, Ken Leingang Excavating, Inc. prepared the Downtown Yakima Rotary Playground site. Ken and his crew completed all of the work at no cost. Ken donated the use of the excavation equipment and the fuel and his crew donated their time. Over one hundred volunteers from the Downtown Yakima Rotary Club and other volunteers converged on Kiwanis Park to put the playground together The weather cooperated and the Gateway Complex provided the volunteers with lunch on both days. John Larson and John Muland from Play Creation were on site both days instructing the many volunteers during the construction of the playground. A retaining wall was built on the south side of the playground due to the slope of the hill. Weed guard is to be installed by Park Maintenance this week and the safety surface for under the playground will be placed later this week or early next week. One piece of equipment did not arrive with the other loads and had to be shipped later The final piece will be installed as soon as possible. Hopefully the playground will be ready for children by the end of the month. 2 7fijy' !c- - e. 7t, 1 . rA- sa <. TA. •r,.:. w .j Via., - ti � x ` Y� •�tir y �,A 14, da M a cwt 7fijy' !c- - e. 7t, 1 . rA- sa <. TA. •r,.:. w .j Via., - ti � x ` a as4ingtan �tatc �EPgisltttur>e The Honorable Christine Gregoire Governor of Washington P 0 Box 40002 Olympia, WA 98504 -0002 Dear Governor Gregoire RECEIVED CITY OF YAKIMA JUN 1 4 2010 OFFICE OF CITY COUNCIL June 9, 2010 We are writing to urgently seek your immediate help in convening a law enforcement summit with the goal of creating a coordinated effort to effectively fight the criminal gang activity plaguing the Yakima area. The people of Yakima are paralyzed with intense fear that emanates from living inside a violent and deadly war zone filled with flying bullets shot from the guns of gang members. Our residents are horribly afraid of stepping outside of their homes and into their yards, getting into their cars, going to work, and conducting their normal daily, lawful activities. Moreover, parents are terrified for the safety of their children. It's estimated more than 2,500 gang members are active in Yakima County, and more than half of those are in the city of Yakima. We know that at least 14 people have died in our area since the beginning of the year from gang- related violence, and last year was one of the bloodiest years in our county with more than 25 homicide victims. Countless others have been injured, some permanently and severely The May 30 cold - blooded, gang - related execution -style murder of an 18- year -old Yakima boy, who begged for his life in front of his family's home before being shot repeatedly, says it all. WE NEED HELP! And we need it NOW! Despite the best efforts of local law enforcement, gangs are rapidly gaining a powerful foothold in our communities, grooming our children into a life of violence, and increasing their numbers and strength. If we do not act now and decisively, criminal street gangs will prevail in this war, leaving a path of death and destruction in their wake Efforts are underway to add an FBI- administered Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Force to the Yakima area to help local law enforcement. While we fully support this move, the U.S. Attorney's office says the earliest this task force can be in place is in the fall of 2010, provided it is approved by the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, D C. Our communities cannot stand idly by and wait for lengthy approval processes while more people die and families live in fear of additional massacres in our streets. As elected leaders, it is our duty to uphold and preserve the safety of the citizens we serve. We need to act now That's why we are asking for your immediate help Please immediately call for and convene a Criminal Street Gang Enforcement Summit to address the imminent and dire threat gangs are posing to our communities across the state, especially in the Yakima Valley area. -more- -2- We ask that you urgently request representatives from the following agencies to participate in the summit: Governor's office 14th District legislators Yakima Police Chief Sam Granato Yakima County Sheriff Ken Irwin Washington State Patrol Washington State Attorney General's office United States Attorney General's office U S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Drug Enforcement Administration U S. Department of Homeland Security U S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement U.S Customs and Border Protection U.S. Marshals Service Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Washington Council for Police and Sheriffs We ask that the representatives of the summit work cooperatively together to create a coordinated, cohesive plan that marshals all available law enforcement resources to effectively locate, root out, investigate, arrest and prosecute entire gangs, from the street -level thugs and dealers up through the crew leaders, and ultimately, the command structure of local gangs. We need a strong, decisive and intensive law enforcement plan that utilizes the expertise and resources of these departments to sweep our streets of criminal gangs who are destroying the Yakima area. Please call this summit immediately to expedite the help so desperately needed by our Yakima -area law enforcement to deter violent gangs and bring to justice those who have spread this epidemic throughout our local communities. Our future depends on it! Sincerely, Norm Johnson Charles Ross Curtis King State Representative State Representative State Senator 14th Legislative District 14th Legislative District 14th Legislative District (360) 786 -7810 (360) 786 -7856 (360) 786 -7626 Cc- Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, Yakima Assistant Mayor Kathy Coffey; Yakima Councilwoman Maureen Adkison, Yakima Councilman Bill Lover