During Monday’s work session meeting, the City Council discussed a resolution that would authorize Mayor Eddie Sundquist and Mark Roetzer, acting director of Public Works, to purchase up to $135,000 in equipment from Aquatix by Landscape Structures. The proposed equipment would be installed at the Alen Park and Jackson-Taylor Park splash pads.

The City Council approved the allocation of $400,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding for the two splash pad locations during last month’s voting session; however, as City Councilwoman Marie Carrubba, D-Ward IV, pointed out during Monday’s meeting, City Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, successfully passed an amendment to the resolution that required the city to have an engineering firm determine the “feasibility” of the Jackson-Taylor Park splash pad location due to concerns about the quality of the soil.

“Would the engineering study be completed before we go ahead and purchase the equipment if we find out that the soil isn’t sufficient to handle the splash pad?” Carrubba asked. “We voted for the engineering study to be completed and I would assume we want that before we go ahead. Not to stall it, but we can’t make a good decision if we don’t know what the recommendation from the engineering study is.”

Zach Altschuler, executive assistant to the mayor, explained that the resolution proposed to the City Council is only for the “physical play equipment” that will be required for both splash pad locations. Altschuler said the city administration has had discussions with the Department of Public Works concerning the proposal. Based on those discussions, he said the Public Works Department is working with the engineering firm and the subcontractor for soil tests. Altschuler said the soil tests will “hopefully” be completed soon.

Pictured is Zach Altschuler, executive assistant to Mayor Eddie Sundquist. P-J photo by Timothy Frudd

“Regardless of where the second splash pad goes, we will still need to get the equipment for it, so if we don’t try to purchase it now, we’ll probably not be able to do anything until next year,” Sundquist said.

Asked by City Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, which engineering firm is testing the soil quality at Jackson-Taylor Park, Altschuler said Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. is the engineering firm responsible for testing the soil.

“They have an office in Jamestown,” he said. “We do quite a bit of work with them. They did the engineering studies and soil samples for the new concession stand that was built down there a few years back, which is relatively close to the location.”

City Councilwoman Kim Ecklund, R-At Large also relayed concerns from Doug Champ, a city resident, who said a soil study was conducted by the Department of Development many years ago. Champ told City Council members that while the soil study may be “dated,” the conditions of the soil are unlikely to have changed significantly since the study was reported.

“Years ago, I commissioned a soil study report for all of that area that you were thinking about,” Champ said. “It was done by a soil conservation scientist and paid for and I think that study may still be around. It all identified the subsoils as ‘carlisle muck,’ which is subject to subsidization, which means constant settling.”

Based on the previous soil study, Champ said it was determined that “nothing” should be constructed with a platform in the area the city has proposed for a splash pad location in Jackson-Taylor Park.