GUILDERLAND — Two town parks will be improved and the highway department has a new excavator — all funded by State Assembly grants secured through Phil Steck.

On Monday morning, Steck was at DiCaprio Park with two giant checks to present to Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber during a news event:

— One $125,000 check for a Kubota mini excavator; and

— Another check, for $250,000, to pay for improvements to the Fort Hunter and DiCaprio parks, including for playground equipment, resurfacing parking lots, and upgrading sports fields and basketball courts.

Barber said that Guilderland’s highway superintendent, Bob Haver, was happy about the excavator. The bright orange machine was driven over the park lawn to serve as a backdrop for the press conference.

Barber noted that the excavator had barely left a mark on the lawn.

“That’s what is key about this,” he said. “It allows Bob now to go into backyards and other hard-to-reach places and basically deal with stormwater. We’re dealing with climate change right now … probably a lot more washouts; a lot more issues are cropping up and it’s very important for us to get to these jobs very quickly and efficiently.”

With climate change, Steck said, infrastructure improvements are needed more and more. “We have a lot to do in terms of improving drainage,” he said. “And in some parts of my district, there are lots of issues with roads that are badly in need of repair.”

Steck, a Democrat, represents the 110th Assembly District, which was reconfigured to include the Fort Hunter area in the northeast corner of Guilderland; it also includes the southeast corner of Schenectady County, and Colonie and Latham in Albany County.

“I just came into Guilderland as a result of redistricting,” said Steck, noting his office is supportive of parks. “So, to be fair, we have to do the same thing for Guilderland as well.”

Steck reminisced about playing baseball at Guilderland’s Tawasentha Park when he was 15 and a member of Latham’s Babe Ruth team.

He noted that DiCaprio Park is “purposed for soccer and lacrosse” and said, “My father was an athletic director so, in our office, we do whatever we can to promote sports and recreation.”

Barber said the new playground equipment at DiCaprio will give younger kids “an attractive safe distraction” while older kids are playing soccer and lacrosse at the park.

Pictures on display Monday morning showed a play area with several gazebos capped with turquoise roofs, linked by a ramp, with two slides as well as a spinning machine with turquoise seats.

Another picture featured a jungle gym in the shape of a giant cone.

For the Fort Hunter Park, a small pavilion on a concrete slab was pictured.

“The new playground and improvements will provide children of all abilities with safe, inclusive, and engaging space to play, explore and grow …,” said Guilderland’s parks director C.J. Gallup, in a release announcing the event. “We are excited to give people more options to get outside and get moving!”

“One thing that’s been really great about Phil and his office,” said Barber, “is that they call me and say, ‘What do you need?’”