Tuesday, Poplarville’s Board of Aldermen discussed a safety concern about the city’s new splash pad and vandalism at the site.
Poplarville Mayor Brad Necaise read aloud a letter from Nikki Collier.
“On Sunday Aug. 30, she and her children were at the splash pad,” Necaise read from the letter. “Many of the younger children slipped and fell twice, once hitting their head and observed other children slipping and falling. The surface is too slick and someone is going to get hurt there. She also noticed that since there is no drainage around the area, there are many mud puddles forming and she observed many of the children pulling grass up and creating larger mud holes.”
Placing a coating over the splash pad has been discussed, Necaise said. The city opted for a lighter grating so it wouldn’t be too rough on the children’s feet.
He asked city attorney Nick Thompson what liability does the city carry.
“Just based on the information from that letter, I don’t see that much real liability,” Thompson said. “Things are slippery when wet. Now if this were occurring in a dry area, that’s a different story. Obviously as the board, you want to make sure the kids are safe and if something can be done to stop these things from happening, then you should consider that. Until now, you haven’t gotten any notice of any problems with it and until you get some more confirming information, then I don’t see much liability with it.”
In relation to the drainage, Poplarville Public Works Director Sam Hale said that fall is coming and the leaves on the white oak tree are falling and getting in those drain baskets.
“On the weekends they’re not getting checked and Monday morning, they’re full of leaves,” Hale said.
Necaise said they would follow the advice of Thompson and continue to observe the splash pad and drainage.
Thompson also advised the board to place signage around the splash pad alerting visitors that the site becomes slippery when wet.
In another matter, Hale informed board members that the controls at the splash pad had been vandalized with last weekend.
“Someone got into our meter and control boxes and tampered with all the valves and left the electrical open,” Hale said. “I’ve gotten a quote for a 6-foot vinyl covered fence, which is $1,294 and includes a locking gate.”
Aldermen Byron Wells said the part that was tampered with cost about $6,000 to replace if it were destroyed.
“That’s why the fence is being put up,” he said, “to try and keep people from tearing up the control panel.”
The board voted to accept the fencing quote.
Hale also told the board the original splash pad fire hydrant feature was sent back, which has not been functioning.
“I spoke with Great Southern Recreation on Sept. 1 and they said they would be installing the new hydrant as soon as Water Odyssey ships it to them.”