Weissport Council finally has written confirmation that the playground issue is getting resolved and at no cost to the borough.

The playground construction was started last fall and continued this spring when volunteers found wires embedded in the mulch.Council member Sue Pywar read from an e-mail from George Ely of George Ely Associates, Inc., the company that provided the playground equipment, that "We are trying to get this situation corrected as soon as possible."The e-mail noted that the installer the company uses for playground projects, Lowell Hartzell, is scheduled to do the work and will be removing the existing mulch from the playground.Ely also noted that if the fabric layer cannot be salvaged, he also intends to replace it."The existing mulch will be taken to either a landfill or returned to the manufacturer for salvage," Ely noted. "New painted black rubber nuggets will be provided for Hartzell to install on the playground."He said work will commence as soon as Hartzell can be scheduled."If he can't get started this week, I am hopeful that he will be able to get things started next week," Ely said.Ely said the work will be done at no cost to the borough of Weissport."We sincerely apologize for the obvious inconvenience that this problem has caused the borough," he noted.The new state of the art playground is set on the same property that had been used as a playground for Weissport children since the 1940s. The playground still had some of the original equipment until last year, when it was dismantled and sold.The playground site is across the street from the former Weissport School, which has been a private residence for nearly 40 years. Much of the equipment of the circa 1940 playground was considered unsafe by today's safety standards.The new playground, meanwhile, has the latest and safest equipment available and is also ADA (American Disabilities Act) approved. The playground was designed with children ages 5 to 12 in mind, but there will also be an area for toddlers.There are three brightly-colored slides, a climbing wall, chimes, bug panels, balconies, bounce buttons, a seesaw, a dino ride and flutter-by spring rider, a toss-up, swings with 10-inch high seats, two belted seats, a handicapped accessible seat and a tot seat. There will also be a picnic table for outdoor dining and a bench. The tot lot will feature similar equipment but smaller models for children ages 2 to 5.The cost of the playground is estimated at $60,347. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) provided a grant of $48,000, plus Concerned Citizens of Weissport raised $10,000 over the course of many years, plus the group received $2,000 from a donor who requested that the funds be used for recreation.