By David Tyler

Coulter Park in the Brookside neighborhood of the village of Fayetteville is likely to get a significant facelift beginning this summer.
On Monday night, Derek Zipprich of the Fayetteville Parks Commission presented the board of trustees with a plan to upgrade the majority of the playground equipment, resurface and repurpose the basketball court, and create a multi-use athletic field complete with fencing to keep any stray balls from going in the woods.
Plans call for the basketball court to be resurfaced and restriped so it could serve a dual purpose as a pickleball court.
Mayor Mark Olson was generally supportive of the plan but wanted to make it clear to residents of Brookside that the improvements could make the park a draw to residents from throughout the village.
“This is a village park. This will be used by all residents,” Olson said. “Build it and they will come, and they will be coming. They’re going to park on a public street.”
Currently, the quiet park is nestled into the corner of Cashin and Aladdin drives. There is no parking lot, so visitors from outside the neighborhood park on the street.
The improvements would include pushing back some of the overgrowth at the park’s edges, and possibly installing some adaptive swings for children with disabilities. Additional seating areas around the playground equipment and near the brook are also in the plans.
By the board’s next meeting in August, the board hopes to have more firm plans for the upgrades at which point the village would schedule an informational session at the park to discuss the plan with neighbors.
If everything in the planning process continues smoothly, construction on some of improvements could take place this year. Funding would come from the village’s park reserve fund.
Tables vandalized at Canal Landing Park
Fayetteville Mayor Mark Olson reported that a number of tables at Canal Landing Park have been removed because they were vandalized with graffiti. The graffiti included some of the slogans associated with the Black Lives Matter movement.
“It’s very disappointing and very disheartening that people would do this to village property,” Olson said. “It’s the first incident we’ve had [at the park in 14 years].”
Olson said a police report was filed and nearby camera footage is being reviewed to try to identify who vandalized the property.

SEQR review for Waterside Commons
The village board scheduled a special meeting for Monday, July 27 at 6 p.m. to do the state environmental quality review [SEQR] for the Waterside Commons project at the corner of the Highbridge and Genesee streets.