Cook Park project history
Reviewed records trace separate Cook Park efforts: playground repair and equipment purchases, repeated splash-pad proposals that led only to advisory and long-term-planning referrals, and later parking and lighting planning and design. The records do not support treating these efforts as one contract or as proof of completed work or payment.
Approvals, contract amounts, and reported expenditure describe different stages. They are not added together as a project total.
Authorize Cook Park playground repairPlayground repair authorization · PASSED — consent agenda
Council authorized negotiation and purchase of playground-equipment repairs necessitated by a March 10 automobile crash. The consent approval did not state a price, vendor, completed repair, invoice, or payment.
- Curtis: yes
- Lockmiller: yes
- Perkinson: yes
- Witt-McMahan: yes
- Pelley: yes
Recorded vote: yes: Curtis, Lockmiller, Perkinson, Witt-McMahan, Pelley, no: none
Reviewed decisions: View decision
Adopt recreation plan with Cook Park priority raisedMaster-plan adoption · PASSED
Council adopted the McMinn County Recreation Master Plan after staff confirmed Cook Park had been moved to a higher priority. This planning decision did not authorize a specific Cook Park contract or expenditure.
- Curtis: yes
- Lockmiller: yes
- Perkinson: yes
- Witt-McMahan: yes
Recorded vote: yes: Curtis, Lockmiller, Perkinson, Witt-McMahan, no: none
Reviewed decisions: View decision
Approve Cook Park playground equipment purchasePlayground purchase approved · PASSED
Council approved purchasing Cook Park playground equipment for $28,217.83. The minutes establish authorization, not delivery, installation, invoice, or payment.
Amount reported at this stage: $28,217.83
- Sherlin: yes
- Witt-McMahan: yes
- Curtis: yes
- Eaton: yes
- Pelley: absent
Recorded vote: yes: Sherlin, Witt-McMahan, Curtis, Eaton, no: none, absent: Pelley
Reviewed decisions: View decision
Splash-pad proposal fails for lack of a secondSplash-pad proposal failed · FAILED — lack of second
A motion to put a splash pad at Cook Park received no second and failed without a vote. No construction or spending was authorized.
Recorded vote: No individual vote was recorded.
Reviewed decisions: View decision
Council records no action on splash padSplash-pad proposal — no action
The Cook Park splash pad appeared under Old Business, but the minutes explicitly state that no motion was made and no action was taken.
Second splash-pad proposal fails for lack of a secondSplash-pad proposal failed · FAILED — lack of second
A second motion to add a splash pad at Cook Park received no second and failed without a vote. No construction or spending was authorized.
Recorded vote: No individual vote was recorded.
Reviewed decisions: View decision
Amend splash-pad proposal into a referralSplash-pad referral amendment approved · PASSED
Council amended the splash-pad motion to place the request on the Recreation Advisory Board agenda for a recommendation and include it in long-term city planning. This procedural amendment did not approve construction.
- Sherlin: yes
- Duggan: yes
- Pelley: yes
- Eaton: yes
- Curtis: yes
Recorded vote: yes: Sherlin, Duggan, Pelley, Eaton, Curtis, no: none
Reviewed decisions: View decision
Approve amended splash-pad referralSplash-pad referral approved · PASSED — as amended
Council passed the amended motion referring the splash-pad request to the Recreation Advisory Board and long-term planning. This was a referral, not a project award or spending authorization.
- Sherlin: yes
- Duggan: yes
- Pelley: yes
- Eaton: yes
- Curtis: yes
Recorded vote: yes: Sherlin, Duggan, Pelley, Eaton, Curtis, no: none
Reviewed decisions: View decision
Advisory board moves parking improvement to FY2027–2028Advisory capital-plan recommendation · PASSED
The Recreation Advisory Board moved the Cook Park parking-lot improvement to fiscal year 2027–2028 in its capital plan. This advisory action did not award work or authorize spending.
Recorded vote: The source states that the motion carried; no vote count is listed.
Reviewed decisions: View decision
Seek engineering proposal for Cook Park parkingParking planning approved · PASSED
An initial motion to award the additional-parking project was withdrawn. Council then approved obtaining a proposal from the engineer working on the Parks Master Plan. This authorized a proposal request, not construction.
- Curtis: yes
- Duggan: yes
- Eaton: yes
- Sherlin: yes
- McCowan: yes
Recorded vote: yes: Curtis, Duggan, Eaton, Sherlin, McCowan, no: none
Reviewed decisions: View decision
Approve parking and lighting design servicesProfessional design services approved · PASSED — consent agenda
As part of the consent agenda, Council approved a $41,500 Kimley-Horn agreement for design and bidding services for additional parking and lighting at Cook Park. This is professional-services authorization, not a construction award or proof of payment.
Amount reported at this stage: $41,500
- McCowan: yes
- Curtis: yes
- Eaton: yes
- Duggan: yes
- Sherlin: yes
Recorded vote: yes: McCowan, Curtis, Eaton, Duggan, Sherlin, no: none
- 2026 7 21 Minutes Regular Session signed · PDF page 1
- 2026 7 21 Minutes Regular Session signed · PDF page 2
Reviewed decisions: View decision
What remains unconnectedEvidence needed to complete the trail.
- The reviewed records do not provide a vendor, contract, invoice, payment, installation date, or completion record for the 2021 playground repair authorization.
- The $28,217.83 playground-equipment approval is not reconciled to a purchase order, invoice, payment, delivery, installation, or completion record.
- The reviewed splash-pad motions establish failed proposals and a referral for recommendation and long-term planning; they do not establish design approval, a construction award, funding, installation, or completion.
- The reviewed records do not show the Recreation Advisory Board issuing a later splash-pad recommendation after the July 2025 referral.
- The February 2026 advisory capital-plan scheduling, June proposal request, and July $41,500 design agreement are distinct parking milestones. No reviewed construction bid, construction award, invoice, payment, or completion record links them.
- The July 2026 design authorization does not establish that the full $41,500 was invoiced or paid.
Related department spending history · Records review · Search related source records