Help Save the Park
$8,515
$20,000
So far we have raised $8,515 of our stated goal of $20,000. Thank you all for your donations and help.
Help Save Piñon Valley Park
Submitted by Brandan on Mon, 03/29/2010 - 10:08pm.
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PIÑON VALLEY PARK NEEDS YOUR HELP!
Dear Neighbors:
You are probably aware of the many budget cuts recently made by the City of Colorado Springs. As a result, the amount of resources the Parks and Recreation department is able to devote to small neighborhood parks has been drastically reduced. In an effort to minimize the effects to Piñon Valley Park, the Piñon Valley Neighborhood Association (PVNA) is spearheading a cooperative effort to raise money to fund the shortfall for 2010 and organize volunteer efforts.
How does this affect you and our community?
A well-maintained park and playground provides a centerpoint for our families. It’s an asset we can’t afford to lose. Reduced services in the park will impact our families, children, and organized sports associations. A well maintained community park will also protect the long-term value of our property.
Limited services:
Kurt Schroeder of Parks and Recreation has told PVNA representatives that the City will fund about 50% of the water needs, mow and trim every other week and maintain most of the park equipment including the playground, lighting, fence repair. However, there is still an $18,883 shortfall. Without this money, the park can’t be fertilized, sprayed for weeds, or seeded. It also won’t cover unexpected expenses caused by vandalism. See the detailed information on park maintenance costs and the shortfall.
The Gazette Writes About Our Cleanup Day
Submitted by Brandan on Wed, 08/18/2010 - 7:14pm.
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City budget cuts weren’t going to deprive folks in Piñon Valley of their beloved neighborhood park.
Rather than risk it filling with trash, becoming overrun with weeds and its grass wilting in the summer sun, neighbors rallied like few others in Colorado Springs.
Park Cleanup Day was a Success
Submitted by Brandan on Wed, 08/18/2010 - 8:51am.
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From Jeanette Givens, the PVNA President.
Hello All: We had a fantastic park clean-up on Saturday. More than 30 families with more than 70 adults and children came out to help in the park. As of Friday evening, we had no idea how many people would show up, but we had a terrific turn-out. We were really thrilled to see the number of people that came out and worked tirelessly to get everything done.
All the picnic tables and park benches were scraped with wire brushes, primed and painted. Weeds were pulled and/or sprayed in multiple areas around the playground and along the fences, the playground was raked and the area around the basketball court was edged. When all was done, everything looked great and the trash container was overflowing with weeds and trimmed bushes. In three hours, the park had a fresh look.
A special thank you has to go to Tom and Julie Hutton. They picked up all the painting supplies and went out Friday evening and scraped and primed several of the tables and benches to give us a head start. Julie was also able to get additional people to sign up for trash duty in the park. Tom contacted Bill Vogrin, the Side Streets columnist with the Gazette, to tell him about our work. I had a chance to talk to Bill yesterday, so I expect to see an upcoming column about our efforts very soon.
Julie took multiple pictures which she plans to send to the City and I hope to post on the website. We talked about planning another event possibly in the fall to do some additional clean-up so we will be in touch. I plan to send emails to everyone who signed in thanking them for their participation. Tom Hutton and Larry Herzlich plan to do some weed cutting along the trail in the next few weeks. Please email Tom if you’re interested in helping. We also had a few ladies that are interested in forming a group to work along Centennial. We'll post information on this also on the website.
Piñon Valley Park Update/Park Clean-up Day
Submitted by Brandan on Sun, 07/18/2010 - 8:33pm.
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Over 25 people met at the Piñon Valley Park pavilion on Monday, July 12 to:
- receive an update on funds raised by our community to support work at the park,
- obtain park maintenance status from Kurt Schroeder, Parks, Open Space and Trails manager, and Stacy Rawlins, park supervisor, and
- plan a Park Clean-up Day at the park.
Ed Plute, PVNA treasurer, noted that $8,515 had been deposited as of 6/28/10. This amount includes $320 donated by Piñon Glen Homeowners Association for the return of a portable restroom in the park. It does not include the in-kind donation by Green Valley Ranch towards a 1 ton dumpster, trash pick-up by volunteers and trash bags for the 5 trash cans that have been returned to the park. As Ed noted, funds are still coming in from residents within our community.
Kurt and Stacy were amazed at the amount of activity in the park on a Monday evening. The playground was bustling, neighbors were visiting, people were using the park trail and a baseball game was on at the west end of the park. Kurt Schroeder congratulated PVNA on the amount that has been raised and said that only one other neighborhood in the City had raised $8,000 for their park.
Park Meeting - July 12, 2010 @ 7 PM
Submitted by Brandan on Thu, 07/08/2010 - 8:19am.
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A meeting has been scheduled for 7:00 pm Monday, July 12 at the PVNA park pavilion. Jeanette Givens will discuss issues such as park donations received, maintenance provided for the park, lawn maintenance, trash removal, neighborhood park clean-up/maintenance day, volunteer needs, etc. In addition, a representative from the City Parks & Recreation Department may be on hand to further answer questions regarding maintenance of our park. Please attend the meeting and learn of issues affecting our neighborhood.