City administration will ask the City Council of Webster City to commit to funding a splash pad in East Twin Park in the ensuing year.
The Council tonight will vote on whether or not to adopt a resolution asking the city to set aside money for the project, and authorize the city to look for supplementary funding through a tourism grant.
The splash pad is projected to cost about $450,050, according to Council packet notes.
It would be located between the existing playground and basketball court.
“As part of the FY 24 Capital Improvement Plan, the City Council approved the Splash Pad Project,” the packet reads. “City staff has been diligently pursuing grant opportunities as they become available to help offset the costs of the splash pad installation. To date, we have not received any grants.”
Those grants include a Wellmark Foundation Grant of $100,000, which has not been received; likewise a $99,999 Prairie Meadows Grant; and a $1,000 Iowa Parks and Recreation.
The city has also pursued an Enhance Iowa/CAT Grant, seeking $47,000 to $75,000; a $50,000 T-Mobile Hometown Grant; and $30,000 from the Enhance Hamilton County Foundation, the application for which will be submitted this fall.
Hamilton County has already committed $40,000 to the project; the City of Webster City has committed $42,500.
That means that of the total, the city is still seeking the lion’s share of the cost of the project: $367,550.
The Council asked Snyder & Associates to design, engineer and plan construction management of the splash pad project back in February this year.
“City staff has been working to identify funding opportunities that can supplement the City
Splash Pad project currently under design,” the Council packet states. “Staff is seeking City matching fund commitment and authorization to submit an Iowa Economic Development Authority CAT grant application for the splash pad project.
“The splash pad will be a pass-through system, as preferred by the Council on December 19, 2022,” the Council packet states.
“In order to operate the splash pad, costs associated with water treatment and water discharge need to be taken into consideration. The splash pad will have upfront costs associated with engineering and construction; however, the operating costs will be a long-term commitment the City must consider.
“Staff has estimated costs associated with the splash pad operation based on the assumption that the system will operate at somewhere between 160 to 200 gallons per minute (gpm). No hours of operation have been set for the splash pad, however; there is a standard average of 80 days per year that is assumed to operate the splash pad from June to August of each season.
“On average, a splash pad season can use 5,000,000 gallons of water. Taking this into account, staff is estimating operational expenses for the splash pad to be approximately $65,000 to $70,000.”
The splash pad will only have water flowing when the activator switch is turned on.; it will not continuously flow water during hours of operation.
This evening’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers of City Hall, 400 Second St., Webster City.
The meeting will be open to the public and can also be attended via Zoom.com:
Meeting ID 880 8064 9506
Phone number to call to participate via telephone is 1-312-626-6799 US (Chicago).
View this article as it originally appeared in the Daily Freeman-Journal.
Last modified: August 7, 2023