CAIRO — Grady County commissioners voted recently to authorize a $13,400 project to help resolve what local officials say is a potential safety issue at Barber Park.

Commissioners voted to purchase a $5,500 top dresser and $7,900 worth of sand to fill in holes in fields where children play.

“It’s certainly a safety problem,” said County Administrator Buddy Johnson, “and I think for the money at this time this is probably the right time to do it.”

The top dresser will be used to spread the sand through numerous small divots that were initially noticed during a routine inspection of the Barber Park fields. The issue returned to the county’s attention at a recent service at the park held in honor of former commissioner T.D. David.

Recreation Department director Becky Bracewell said the problem was the worst at the park’s soccer fields.

With soccer activities at Barber Park winding down, and a few months to go until baseball and softball seasons begin, county officials say now is the time to make the purchase.

“We’re hoping that we can get a good handle on it now and then we can move forward into getting them all dressed the way they need to be dressed properly,” Bracewell said.

Bracewell was not entirely sure if the 370 tons of sand would be enough to cover the entire project.

“We don’t know until we get into the project how deep it’s gonna be,” she said.

Any additional purchases of sand will have to be re-bid, Johnson said.

Officials also looked into the option of simply renting a spreader, but determined that purchasing the machinery outright had better long-term implications.

“We can utilize that spreader over and over again,” Johnson said. “I think it’s just a good idea to get it all at one time.”

Bracewell said the spreader can also be used to help construct two new soccer fields at Barber Park.

“This will need to be a process that we do before we lay out those fields,” she said.

Johnson said money has been set aside in the budget to allow for the purchase.