Public hearing set for splashpad

RIVERSIDE ? The Riverside City Council voted 3-2 Monday to set the bid letting date and the date of the public hearing on the proposed splashpad. The bid letting will be March 5 at 4 p.m. and the public hearing is the same day at 6:45 p.m. Councilors Nate Kasdorf, Christine Kirkwood and Kevin Kiene voted for the motion while councilors Ralph Schnoebelen and Bob Schneider Jr. voted against it.

The council talked with city engineer Mike Hart about the amount of water that would be used in the splashpad. Hart said if the splashpad is running water through its aquatic toys all day ? eight hours ? it would use 108,000 gallons per day.

Hart said all the water that runs through the splashpad goes into the sanitary sewer. Schnoebelen asked if there was a way for the city to ?reclaim? the water, which means cycling it through the system again. Hart said the city would have to sample the water four times per day and would have to send the water samples to the Iowa Department of Public Health. He said the city could not afford to staff someone to do that.

Schnoebelen read prepared comments he made concerning the splashpad. He said he was not opposed to a splashpad but that he was opposed to the way the council is handling the matter.

?We were told at the first meeting that the operational costs would be minimal,? Schnoebelen said. ?I think over $20,000 per year plus labor costs is not minimal. We should have been told that upfront.?

Schnoebelen said the ball association and the other recreational leagues and clubs that use the park should be asked for their input on the splashpad. Schnoebelen said he also didn?t like the proposed location of the splashpad in Hall Park near the volleyball court. He said he?d prefer it in the northwest corner of Hall Park. He said that would help the parking crunch at the park because the parking lot by Peoples Trust and Savings Bank could be used.

Schneider said he wasn?t keen on building a splashpad that could only be used 90 days a year. He said he?d have an easier time justifying the expense of a splashpad if it were inside a community building, because then it could be used 365 days a year.

Nancy Jones, who lives near Hall Park, said the council has already voted to approve the splashpad. She said kids in town have already been promised a splashpad and that if the council doesn?t deliver on its promise there will be many unhappy grandchildren.

?All the kids come to Hall Park to play,? Jones said. ?They go there to have a picnic and play on the playground equipment. It?s like that all summer.?

Jim Leyden said the community building was four or five years away from becoming a reality. He said other city projects can?t be put on hold until the community building is built.

The city secured a $70,000 Riverboat Foundation grant for the splashpad. There was a disagreement over whether passing up that grant would make it more difficult to secure grants in the future. Kirkwood said the city would have difficulty obtaining grants if it gave this money back to the foundation. Schneider disagreed. He said he believed the foundation would look favorably on the city?s decision not to spend the money if it didn?t need to.

?I don?t think we need to take that golden egg every time,? Schneider said. ?We shouldn?t rush into doing something without planning it first. I don?t think this has had enough planning. It was never approved by the council. The resolutions were approved, but I can?t find anything in the minutes that says the project was approved by the council, other than that it was listed on the budget.?

Kirkwood said, ?This money has been set aside. It was in the budget. There is nothing about this that has been done underhandedly.?

In other news, the council approved a motion to give Mayor Bill Poch the power to purchase items up to $3,000 without prior council approval. The council ultimately approves all bills and reimbursements at council meetings. The vote was 4-1 with Kirkwood casting the no vote.

The councilors voted to make Poch and Kasdorf representatives of city on the Washington County Communications Commission. They appointed Paula Walton to be the city?s representative to the E911 Board and the Emergency Management Commission and they made Terry Philips the alternate for all three governmental bodies.

The council voted to accept Community Visioning?s hotel/motel tax grant application of $25,000 for the 2012-2013 budget year, and the Riverside History Center?s hotel/motel tax grant application of $15,000.

The council voted to proceed with legal action against Metro Pavers and Federal Insurance Company, which is a subsidiary of Chubb Insurance. City Clerk Missy Carter said Metro Pavers poured the concrete for Commercial Drive in 2010. She said the concrete has cracked and that the company has repaired it. However, Hart said the concrete continues to crack. The city has attempted to contact Metro Pavers and its insurance agent Federal Insurance Company but has not gotten a response.

The council passed a resolution declaring Feb. 14 as ?Salute to Hospitalized Veterans Day.? The council also voted to set the public hearing on the 2012-2013 budget for March 5, 7 p.m.