Case Date:

6/10/2023

Attn. Parks Department A request to install a dog waste station at the Park Ridge park. We have discussed preliminary logistics with staff member Joanna Sparks when she met with us on a related parks initiative. We believe the station will be well utilized and maintained by our park custodial staff member. He provides good consistent service by the way. Please consider this request, placed in a shady area maybe at the base of the ADA path close to the street circle level. We have many dog walkers in the area so it will be appreciated. Thank you -

Case Date:

11/21/2021

We suspect the folks who mowed the Park Ridge Park on Friday blew large quantities of unmulched leaves and pine needles into our yard, in particular to a small stripe of yard. Given that 1) the city has already picked up leaves in our neighborhood and 2) we are trying to mulch (per the city's request) but given the large amount of leaves deposited in such a small area, we do not have a good solution for getting rid of these leaves. A a minimum, we request that Parks and Rec ensure that the mowing contractors do not blow leaves and pine needles out of the park (and ideally trail) into our yard.

Case Date:

5/24/2021

The water fountain is leaking. Water is seeping out around the base of the fixture. Thank you for addressing the erosion to the north of the steps leading up to the shelter and park. Also, there are multiple areas of erosion around the park. Notable areas are to the east of the shelter and to the south of the sidewalk on the south side of the playground structure but there are presumably other bare areas prone to erosion due to their location on a hill or in a high traffic areas. To prevent long term damage to the structure of the park and not having the shelter area turn in to a muddy mess, please address these issues.

Case Date:

4/3/2022

There are bare (grassless) spots throughout the park, either carrying over from last year or spots where chopped leaves killed the grass over winter. Please remain leaves as needed and put out grass seed and straw to help prevent the park from becoming a dirt mess and to stave off erosion from around the park structures. Thanks!

Case Date:

2/16/2023

Hello -- Steve Akers here in the Park Ridge neighborhood. I have some items to bring to your attention regarding the Park Ridge park. Most are pretty obvious in terms of regular park maintenance and other points are from our stewardship observation as park users and close by residents. Please read through these points and be sure they are part of the on-going maintenance as we get closer to Spring, thanks. - Mowing: the contractor you have subbed out the mowing to is mowing whether it needs it or not. This has been the case for the past year. The result is literally no grass. Granted the park is heavily used including a nearby daycare visiting 2-3 times per week. With this what we believe is excessive mowing, the leaves are ground to a power and the grass is till. Granted it's quite shady - but please manage the mowing service and please for a pretty aggressive seeding and fertilizing. The park is now just dirt so users have to clean their shoes after use, etc. - Wood chips - regular maintenance. A good dose of chips are needed after a winter season use. - Powerwashing: the equipment is in decent shape and not too dirty but a good power washing of all equipment would be great before the spring/summer season. - Erosion: this issue is most noticeable in two locations. The hill to the south and the hill area beside the bike/ped path. With improved mowing and seeding, these areas may recover. But they do need some soil and minor leveling. - Canopy: it's still an awesome upgrade but does need power washing/cleaning, or possible replacement. We look forward to the park transitioning from winter to spring. The grill will hopefully be unsecured (the homeless have moved on) and the water fountain will be turned back on. I am happy to meet you or any staff at the site to discuss my items. One additional item: the Park Ambassador program does not include our park. I made an inquiry when the program began and was told the Park Ridge park was not part of the program. Would you reconsider? I know of neighbors who are willing to be named the Park Ambassador. Thanks!

Case Date:

7/24/2022

Poop all over the mulch under the playground, in a couple different spots. Don't know if it's dog or human poop (there is a wipe as well), but highly disgusting and unsafe.

Case Date:

1/16/2019

Hi, I contacted the city a few weeks ago regarding the status of Park Ridge Park and the materials on areas around the park and shelter in that park. In that note, I suggested cleaning up the debris in the park so as to prevent having to mitigate the problems caused by leaving them over the winter. The past two years, erosion mitigation was done on the park and it occurred to me that if the debris were removed, their would be less work in the spring to get the park back to the way it was at the beginning of fall. That suggestion was passed on to Dave Williams and I have not yet heard anything back from the parks department. I would like to know what the plans are for park with regards to debris removal. I am concerned now that since the true winter has begun and the city leaf removal is over, the debris will now remain in place all winter, hopefully to be removed soon enough in the spring such that only minimal work will have to be done in the spring. Perhaps if I had none that Parks would not be able to handle the debris removal, we could have organized a neighborhood effort to take care of the problem but it seems like that time has passed. To be clear, I really appreciate the responsiveness the Parks Department has had to suggestions and concerns about the Park Ridge Park and no doubt all the other parks. The erosion mitigation efforts conducted over the last two years did have a very positive effect and the park, the neighborhood and the city are all better for them. I am sure that something will get worked out this time as well and look forward to hearing what the plan is going forward for our wonderful, small and highly shaded park. Thank you.

Case Date:

12/7/2018

First - thank you for how responsive the department has been to our observations about Park Ridge Park. We really appreciate it! Park Ridge has a density of plants in and around it and is a relatively small park. As such, the amount of debris that can accumulate on the park compared to its size is quite high. We have witnessed that this debris tends to remain over the winter and well into spring if it isn't removed. We have seen that this eventually causes problems as the debris prevents grass from overwintering well and regrowing in the spring. This leads to bare spots (especially since the park is pretty all sloped except for the build in structures) leading to erosion. The Parks Department has worked diligently to mitigate these erosion issues through sowing grass seed, putting down straw mats, etc. This has been effective at at least stopping the erosion. However, I wonder if these mitigation efforts will have to be repeated next spring given the amount of debris in park. I suggest removing the debris now to hopefully prevent future problems and accompanying efforts to fix those problems. Please let us know what you think and thanks again for your responsiveness and hard work at making Park Ridge and Bloomington a great place to live and work. Cheers, John

Case Date:

6/3/2019

Hi, First, thank you for removing the leaves from Park Ridge Park, the excellent park in the Park Ridge neighborhood, in April. Now, it seems like it is in need of a little bit of post-winter care. The areas where the leaves laid overwinter have become bare (see the picture). This is a spot that the Parks Department has worked hard trying to recover before and I suppose it is time work on it again. There are also other bare spots in the park where leaves had laid over winter (by the shelter - to the east) and for some unknown reason to the south of the swings. Could these areas please be addressed with grass seed and straw to make sure that park stays maintainable, that the structures don't end being compromised by erosion, and to make the park less of a mess after a rain? Also, the mulch covering the area underneath the playground structure may need refilled, in particular underneath the swings. Finally, is there a regular schedule under which these aspects of the park(s) get addressed? I am sure there are priorities and limited resources. We do not want to bother the department - if we knew that this maintenance would be done (based on a known schedule), then we would only have the thank yous to include instead of a thank you and a request. Thanks again.

Case Date:

10/28/2019

Hi, Regarding Park Ridge Park, as the fall leaf season approaches, I want to bring up leave removal at the park. It does seem as though some bare ground did develop at the park this season and I would say that it is due in part to the lack of leaf removal. Neighborhood residents might be able to aid in getting our very shaded and "treed" park cleared. To make the most of that, we would appreciate it if Parks and Rec or some other city agency could help out with coordinating with the leave removal crews to ensure that if we do gather the leaves that they will be picked up. Is that something that the department can help out with? Thanks as always, John