Shawnee County OKs Garfield Park playground and Gage Park picnic-table purchases; parks fleet replacement tabled to study electric options

The Shawnee County Board approved two Parks and Recreation purchases and delayed a fleet replacement plan during its May 21 meeting.

Parks Director Tim Lorent presented contract C206187 with GameTime to purchase and install playground equipment at Garfield Park at a stated cost of $19,651.77. Lorent said the project was supported by a $50,000 "Dreams" grant from the City of Topeka, work with the neighborhood association, and that installation would be complete by Dec. 15. "This is replacing one of them. Yes. And we did work with the neighborhood association on this," Lorent said.

The board also approved a purchase of 24 picnic tables and trash receptacles for Gage Park, funded through the Gage Park sales tax fund, at a cost reported as $40,933.79; seven tables are ADA-compliant. Lorent said staff will bolt down and install most tables and noted additional replacement purchases will follow.

On a related parks matter, Lorent outlined contracts C2026188–C2026190 with Enterprise Fleet Management to replace 15 parks vehicles (12 lease-turn ins, and three older department-owned vehicles). He said the net annual lease cost increase would be about $38,962, funded from the department's operating budget, and that three older vehicles would be sold via Purple Wave with proceeds returning to the equipment fund. Commissioners discussed electric alternatives and charging-infrastructure needs and voted to table the fleet item for one week to gather more information.