The proposed construction of a splash pad was discussed during Picayune’s City Council meeting Tuesday evening.
During the meeting, members of the Partners for Pearl River County Leadership class spoke to the council about an idea for their project.
Each year participants in the leadership program are put into groups and tasked with coming up with a project that will better the community. For leadership members Kelly Beech, Chad Dorn and Daryl Smith it’s the construction of a splash pad at Friendship Park.
Their idea is to raise the funds to pay for construction of the splash pad at the local park, which Beech said could be used not only any day of the week, but would be a way to keep kids entertained while their siblings play ball at the park.
Beech said the new addition would also be an economic development driver as it attracts people to the city, who will in turn spend their money at local restaurants.
Their project would entail leadership participants securing the grants and raising money through fundraisers, Beech said. In exchange, the city would be asked to assume the responsibility of maintenance and paying for the water usage. In order to cut down on the amount of water used, the splash pad would use motion detection technology to turn the water on and off.
Beech and her team presented the council with two themes, a crocodile and mermaid, but said there are others to choose from.
When asked about the projected water usage, Smith said that while he has been unable to secure exact numbers, McLeod Water Park reported minimal water usage at their recently installed splash pad. Smith added that the representative for a Slidell, La., park reported seeing residents from Pearl River County at their splash pad on a daily basis.
Any funds raised in excess of the costs to install the new feature would be turned over to the city for use in the splash pad’s maintenance, Smith said.
Since the matter was brought to the council’s attention under the presentation portion of the meeting, and Tuesday’s meeting was a recessed meeting, the council will have to wait until the first meeting in February to make a decision, City Attorney Nathan Farmer said.
In other business the council approved a motion to allow the conditional residential use of the second floor of a building located in a commercial zone at 209 C. Telly Road. The property is owned by Councilor Wayne Gouguet, who recused himself from the meeting when the matter came up.
In a separate matter, City Engineer Brooks Wallace informed the council that the citywide natural gas line replacement project completion date has been pushed back to the end of February.
The next council meeting will be Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. in City Hall.