Mayor Eddie Sundquist and Dan Stone, Parks Department manager provided City Council members with a presentation on two proposed splash pads for Jackson-Taylor Park and Allen Park during Monday’s work session meeting. Pictured are Mayor Eddie Sundquist and City Council President Anthony Dolce, R-Ward II. P-J photo by Timothy Frudd

Months after the initial announcement of splash pads coming to Jamestown, the city administration has asked the City Council to consider using a portion of the remaining American Rescue Plan Act funding to cover the cost of two splash pads for the community.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist and Dan Stone, Parks Department manager presented two splash pad proposals to the City Council during Monday’s work session.

Sundquist reminded City Council members that part of the city’s initial”master plan” with ARPA funding was to make improvements to Jamestown’s various parks.

“We’ve done a good a good amount so far, thanks to the City Council, but we wanted to propose a few more,” he said. “We’re doing this early enough in advance that we can start to talk about these things. This presentation is meant just to be a jumping point for you all, so that if there are other ideas, other thoughts, things that you want to change in those programs, we can start that conversation.”

With only a small portion of the ARPA funding remaining, Sundquist acknowledged that his administration recognizes the city is quickly approaching the “end” of the ARPA funding. However, with the remaining funding, he proposed that the city consider “meeting the needs” of local residents, particularly children in the community.

“I think probably as you guys knock on doors, you’ve probably heard about splash pads, things for kids, all those items,” he said. “This has been a discussion since 2019, the potential for splash pads within the city.”

Sundquist told City Council members that part of the planning process for the two proposed splash pads has been the careful consideration of two ideal places in the city that would ensure that children in the community would have “equitable access” to the splash pads. Ultimately, Sundquist said his administration has outlined preliminary plans for splash pads at Jackson-Taylor Park and Allen Park.

The Jackson-Taylor Park splash pad would be located where the old skateboard park is currently located. Sundquist said the location would have parking and would be in proximity to bathrooms and other amenities.

“We looked at a couple different spots,” he said. “In fact, the Jackson-Taylor Park, that one is probably the best surface that we could apply it to. We were really looking for surface quality and soil quality is part of it, as well as location to bathrooms and other required amenities and obviously water lines.”

With an estimated cost of $250,000, Sundquist said the Jackson-Taylor Park splash pad would include preparation and contingency and would have several features that could be customized, including water flow raters, shade, and other features. The city is currently looking considering a package called “Aqua Smart.”

If the current package for Jackson-Taylor Park is approved, the total area for the splash pad would be 1,963 square feet, with a “wet area” of 1,256 square feet. The water flow rate for the Jackson-Taylor splash pad would be about 45 gallons per minute.

“They come with different features, some shooting out of the ground, some shooting out from various trees and structures and things like that,” Sundquist said. “They’re all based on a button system, so you press the button, and then it activates for a period of time and then it turns off.”

According to Sundquist, the Allen Park splash pad would have “slightly different” features than the Jackson Taylor splash pad but would be a “similar package.”

The total area for the Allen Park splash pad would once again be 1,963 square feet, with a total wet area of 1,256 square feet. However, the water flow rate for the Allen Park splash pad is estimated to be a little higher at 58 gallons per minute.

“The site that we’re looking at is actually the grassy corner area that we have currently that’s near the bathrooms by the basketball courts,” Sundquist said. “That was a site selected because of the ground soil and the best location, as well as the water pipe that goes through there.”

Sundquist told City Council members that both splash pads would be handicap accessible so that the city could provide fun opportunities for kids of all ages, with or without disabilities.

While Sundquist said many people had been concerned about the possibility of the city using a circulating water system for the splash pads, he told the City Council that the engineers for the project actually recommended the city use a freshwater system instead of a circulating water system. While a circulating water system would require the city to have a set amount of water that would continue to “circulate back and forth” and would require New York state testing and additional maintenance staff, a freshwater system would be the same water system used by city residents.

“It would be water that you would see from your tap coming through whenever you press the button and then would drain into our normal drainage system that we have,” Sundquist said. “Under New York state law, if we go with this system, we’re not required and we don’t need to do the rigorous testing involved with the circulating system, so it’s a little bit different.”

Sundquist added that the city’s Parks Department staff will be trained by the company that installs the splash pads to properly maintain and manage the freshwater system. The cost of the training is included in the estimated $250,000 for each splash pad.

Stone told City Council members that every aspect of the splash pads can be controlled by the city with timers.

“Everything will run on a timer, from the start up to the shutdown of the whole operation and even on the button itself,” he said.

Asked about maintenance for the splash pads, Stone said that while the Parks Department does not currently have a maintenance budget for the proposed splash pads, the lack of a maintenance budget has not prevented the city from completing other Parks projects over the years. With concrete as the foundation of the splash pads, Stone said maintenance should not be a major issue.

Stone also addressed concerns about potential vandalism.

“Doesn’t matter what we do, doesn’t matter where it’s at, stuff’s going to be vandalized,” he said. “I don’t think that should be used as a deterrent in anything we do.”

Another concern presented by a city resident was the possibility for the splash pads to present a public health issue with the spread of diseases.

Sundquist responded by saying that the city would leave any “professional opinion” regarding potential health issues caused by the splash pads to an epidemiologist. We added that the city could get more information from the County Health Department regarding any potential issues with the Splash Pads.

While the estimated cost for the two splash pads is $500,000, Sundquist said the Parks Department is working on ways to do some of the work “in-house” in order to reduce the cost of the two projects.

As the City Council considers the $500,000 ARPA allocation for the two splash pads, Sundquist said his administration is also planning to involve the community in discussions regarding the splash pads.

“While we’re discussing with you all, we also want to discuss with the community how this may look, so we would like to talk to residents in various areas both for Jackson-Taylor Park and for Allen Park,” he said. “If all goes well and we’re able to secure the funding and have the community meetings, our engineers have said that we can open by July 2023, so it would be for this summer.”

The first community engagement meeting will be held March 30 at 6 p.m. at the Allen Park Ice Arena, and the second community engagement meeting will be held April 11 at 6 p.m. at the Jackson-Taylor Park Pavilion.