No more snail jungle gyms at Medina parks

Village declares snails, old merry-go-round as surplus items and will be sold

File photo by Tom Rivers: The snail at Pine Street Park, and another one at Butts Park, were declared surplus items by the Village Board on Monday and will be sold. The village’s insurance company recommended the snails be removed.

MEDINA – The snail jungle gyms at Pine Street Park and Butts Park will soon to be sold through an online auction site after the Village Board declared them to be surplus items on Monday.

“The insurance company recommended we take them out because don’t meet requirements for modern day safety of playground equipment,” said Jason Watts, the village’s superintendent of the Department of Public Works. “They were more of a nostalgic thing for our parks.”

Mayor Mike Sidari said a safety audit by the village insurance carrier deemed the snails unsafe. The snails were removed in August.

“If there was an injury claim the insurance company would not pay for the claim,” Sidari said today.

The snails will be listed on the Government Deals online auction site. The village kept the snails in recent years, while the playgrounds were upgraded with newer equipment.

Watts said the snail that was at Pine Street Park is in better shape. The eyes fell off the one from Butts Park.

The board also voted to declare the merry-go-round that was at State Street Park as surplus. That was removed this summer because “it was in tough shape,” Watts said.

Other miscellaneous equipment, a Vermeer woodchipper, track paver and snow plow also were declared surplus and will be sold.