The Crestview City Council voted unanimously on June 8 to approve a $143,019 purchase of play structures for a new imaginative play park to be built at the Crestview Public Library, with the funding coming from the city’s share of the Adams Sanitation ownership transfer.

• The purchase, from Pennsylvania-based Lilliput Play Homes, covers 10 buildings, plus shipping and installation. The council voted 5-0 to waive the city’s purchasing policy to allow staff to move forward with the proposal without going out for bids, a step staff said would have delayed the project by more than 100 days on top of the vendor’s existing five-to-six-month lead time.

The motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Doug Capps and seconded by Councilman Brandon Frost.

The funding comes from the $500,000 payment Crestview received when the council approved the assignment of its solid waste and recycling collection franchise agreement on April 13.

That payment was triggered by a provision in the original 2023 franchise contract when Adams Sanitation transitioned the majority of its ownership to Texas-based Ecowaste Solutions. At that April meeting, the council determined the funds would be earmarked for recreation.

Modeled on a South Florida park

Strategic Initiatives Director Nicholas Schwendt told the council the project was modeled on the Safety Town feature at Wellaby Park in Sunrise, Florida, which multiple staff members identified independently.

“It’s a tiny town for kids to play in, to ride their bikes or their other vehicles, to pretend play in the different buildings or businesses that they have out there, which we think would be a great opportunity,” Schwendt said.

Schwendt said staff researched other providers but found none that offered a comparable product suited to the project, robust, visually appealing, customizable and built for outdoor use, and noted Lilliput Play Homes has worked with another Florida municipality on a similar project.

In addition to the buildings, the design includes additional elements such as a bus stop and a fire truck the kids can climb on. The park’s layout incorporates small roadways designed to teach pedestrian and roadway safety alongside the imaginative play element.

• “We really do have an envisionment of teaching these kids some good pedestrian safety and roadway safety and all of those things that are critical as kids are developing,” City Manager Jessica Leavins said.

Designed for younger children

Leavins said the park is being designed specifically for younger children, the tricycle age rather than 8 to 12, and addresses feedback from parents that existing playgrounds are dominated by older kids.

“There’s not a lot for the little ones to do because the big kids run them over,” Leavins said. “So this is going to be more focused at that “I’m just learning to ride my tricycle age,” not the 8 to 12.”

The park will have a direct exit from the library, allowing families to transition from the library’s story time programming into the fenced play area.

Council reaction

Councilman Shannon Hayes said he plans to visit the Sunrise park while attending the upcoming Florida League of Cities conference in Hollywood.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction to help our young people, and I will be voting for it,” Hayes said. He also noted the project “is not costing our citizens one penny” because of the Adams Sanitation funding.

Councilman Sylvester Echols said he had spoken with young mothers in his precinct who were enthusiastic about a fully enclosed area for their children. Councilwoman Dusty Allison thanked staff for the legwork that allowed the council to skip the bid process.

City Attorney Jon Holloway told the council there is no state law requiring personal property purchases to be bid by a city and that the request was strictly about waiving the city’s internal purchasing policy, which sets spending limits for department heads and the city manager.