Now, the community is coming together to make it right.

Residents in the village of Brocton and the town of Portland have formed the Ryckman Park Revitalization Committee to assist with restoration of the playground in any way the members see fit.

“I appreciate your efforts. It takes a lot to step up and want to make a change,” Mayor Craig Miller said to the members in attendance at a recent Village Board meeting. “… We’ll do what we can on our side.”

The next meeting of the Ryckman Park Revitalization Committee is Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Ahira Hall Memorial Library. The group is seeking more members who will provide input on future planning, fundraising opportunities, and other ways to assist in restoring the park. An emphasis is put on recruiting members who visit the park already or would if upgrades were made.

Brocton Mayor Craig Miller shared his appreciation for residents who have formed a committee to assist with repairing the Ryckman Park playground.

“We’re going to go with the momentum we have and raise as much money as we can. We’re hoping to keep it ongoing so we can continually improve the park,” one committee member said.

The focus now is to install “as cool of a playground” as the group and the Village can afford with the money they have available.

Security cameras, additional parking spaces, restrooms, handicap accessible equipment, and sensory equipment are among the initial ideas for future upgrades. The Village received $20,819 from its insurance as reimbursement for the damaged playground equipment. As noted previously by the Board, the cost to repair the damage far exceeds the reimbursement amount.

“With a committee, you have a better chance of fundraising, which can continue all year long,” Miller said. “The more volunteers you have, the better options and opinions you get out there.”

In the meantime, the Village will proceed with removing damaged equipment from the playground, as a temporary fence to restrict access has not kept all visitors from using the equipment. “There’s too many dangerous points up there,” Miller said.

Miller noted he has spoken with another playground company to discuss potential solutions to fix the park in the short term. “I don’t want to lose this season,” Miller said.

The Village is also moving forward with installing basketball hoops on Kinney Street next to the Fire Hall. Village Trustee Drew Ransom proposed refurbishing the basketball courts at a meeting of the Village Board in June. New pavement has already been installed by the Highway Department and the poles for the hoops have been refurbished. The Village had issues arise during the delivery of backboards, so the Village is now instead ordering higher quality backboards to be installed in the coming months.

Also pertaining to recreation in the Village, the Board re-appointed Maleah Vazquez as Director of Summer Recreation at an hourly rate of $17. Five additional workers will be hired to support Vazquez this summer.

Vazquez served in the role last summer and hopes to provide transportation for children to attend, along with taking field trips this year. Village Trustee Kari Doino said Vazquez did “a fabulous job” last year.

The Board also approved village employees to conclude their workday by noon on April 8 without any loss of pay, in order to allow for safe travel home prior to the total solar eclipse. The Town of Portland took the same action at its latest meeting.

Trustee Ed Bellando has also spoken to representatives of the Brocton Central School District and other nearby districts regarding electric buses. Bellando is concerned that the needs for electric buses at the school would cause a major impact on the electric provider agreement for the Village. Bellando will continue to monitor the District’s plans on the Village’s behalf.

The Village will also review a local law drafted to combine the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals of the Village to one all-encompassing Board, effectively eliminating the Planning Board. A decision could potentially come at the next regular Village Board meeting. The Portland Planning and Zoning Boards have each filled their remaining vacancies in recent months, so the Town will not be proceeding with a potential merger.