The Italy Park Board has postponed May Day in the Park until liability issues could be resolved between the school district and the city. Five of the nine-member board was present at a meeting Tuesday evening in city council chambers.

Ronda Cockerham, assistant city secretary/administrator, said she had approached the school superintendent about donating the land the existing park and tennis courts are on to the city.

She said donating the park and tennis court to the city would alleviate the liability issues since the school district owns the land and the city owns the equipment. Both the city council and the school board must approve the proposal. Neither group meets again until mid-May.

Cockerham said if the school chooses not to donate the land to the city then an interlocal agreement would be necessary between the two organizations.

May 2 had been designed as May Day in the Park to do clean up and construction of playground equipment.

Cockerham added that there were several safety issues that still need addressing, including construction safety issues, parking, tearing down existing equipment, location of new playground equipment, etc.

She had various publications available to board members including a 55-page booklet entitled Public Playground Safety Handbook.

Cockerham said she had also contracted an organization called KaBOOM. This is a national non-profit organization that empowers communities to build playgrounds She said they have trained volunteers that not only help raise funds for a playground but also sets up the playground equipment at no cost.

The board recommended she continue pursuing the KaBOOM organization locally through Home Depot and correspondence with the school district.

Meanwhile, Clover Stiles had obtained a bid from J & A Creative Construction. The manufacturers of the unit, she explained, recommended this firm.

She has been in contact with Jeff Beach, owner of the firm, and received a written estimate for $2,430 to construct the play station and swing set. He also required a survey of the property before construction would begin.

Mayor Frank Jackson said the city could pay for the survey if the school donated the land to the city. He said it would not be a problem for the city to take care park maintenance should the school donate the land to the city.

Stiles said she walked the park and had a scaled-down drawing. She pointed out several possibilities where the playground equipment, picnic tables and grills should be located. She also discussed the possibility of moving the fence on College Street back in order to create more parking.

Stiles said she would have various options available for the board to approve at the next meeting.

In the event that things fell through with the KaBOOM organization, Stiles was instructed to contact the owners of J & A Creative Construction and contact references.

Stephanie Wilson, board president, said, “We definitely want to keep him in the loop.”

Susan Harris said the group needed to move forward and not make construction contingent on whether the land is donated or not. She stressed, however, the urgent need to get liability issues cleared soon.

The Italy Park Board will meet again on Tuesday, May 5, at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers.

Bruce Utley was the other member present. Members not present were Tina Haight, Shedric Walker, Jason Escamilla and Pastor Dixon.