Mount Pleasant Caledonia Memorial Park Needs New Lawnmower

The needs to replace its lawn mower before next spring, the park’s director told officials from both villages on Monday. 

Jim Svoboda, who oversees the park off of Highway K for Mount Pleasant and Caledonia, said without replacement equipment he’ll have no way to mow in the spring. The park’s existing lawnmower is broken down after 15,000 hours of use, and the tractor needed to pull it is over 30 years old, Svoboda said.

“Right now, come spring, I’m not going to have anything to mow with,” he told members of the Mount Pleasant and Caledonia village boards and park board.

The cost of replacement equipment ranges from $22,000 to buy a CNH tractor and lawnmower the park is borrowing from the Racine Area Soccer Association, to as high $73,644 for a new Toro lawnmower with a 16-foot wide cutting area, according to bids Svoboda received from local companies.

Village officials seemed receptive to replacing the equipment despite the promise of tough budget decisions to come later this year.

“It’s definitely a need,” said Mount Pleasant Trustee John Hewitt.

Mount Pleasant Trustee Gary Feest added that there isn’t much debate about the need for the equipment. 

“This is one of the easier ones,” he said when asked about how this decision stacks up to other spending requests the board likely will consider.

While the Mount Pleasant board was well represented at the Monday meeting hosted by Svoboda, Caledonia Trustee Kathy Burton was the only member of her board to attend.

When Feest asked Burton what she thought, Burton quipped: “I think we should buy lottery tickets.”

Lawnmowers are critical to the park because nearly all of its 55 acres needs to be cut weekly. It takes about 24 hours – or three work days – to mow the park, Svoboda said.

Along with a lawnmower, Svoboda showed villages the 2000 Dodge Dakota pickup truck he uses for park business. The truck has over 213,000 miles, has had two transmissions, and is nearing the end of its life, he said.

Along with losing a vehicle to tow equipment, losing the truck could have a secondary effect, Svoboda said. He uses the truck on weekdays to transport prisoners from the Racine County Jail to work at the park. Without the truck, Svoboda would have to use his personal vehicle or discontinue the program, which supplies two or three extra employees to the park every year. For a department with one full-time and one part-time employee, the jail labor is critical.

Svoboda asked village officials to replace the Dodge Dakota. “I’m looking for something used we can get another 10 years out of,” he said.