There’s a lot of questions still to be answered, but that didn’t stop Corner Brook city council from voting to move ahead with putting a splash pad in the city during Monday evening’s public council meeting.
The city allocated $250,000 for a splash pad in this year’s budget and after asking to have the issue added to the agenda, Coun. Tony Buckle put forward a motion that the city proceed with the development of a request for proposals for the design and construction of a structure to be completed this year.
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While the consensus was support for the initiative, moving forward with it was not without some concerns.
Coun. Linda Chaisson was one of the councillors to question the initiative — where it would be built, the model that would be used, and how much it would cost.
In the end, she voted for the motion. After the meeting she was asked why, when there were so many uncertainties. She said she just wanted to get the process started.
Chaisson said the money was put into the budget for the splash pad and she figures if it can be built within that amount, it will happen. Still, she is concerned that some of that money could be eaten up without all the answers.
To determine what the structure will look like, Chaisson said council has to put its trust in city staff. Or she said it may mean something on a small scale.
“What do we want? What we want and what we’re going to get is probably two different things,” she said.
Mayor Jim Parsons said the motion was to initiate a request for proposals and he felt there was no harm in doing that without the answers to the questions posed during the meeting.
He said and it will be up to staff to set the parameters for the request for proposals in terms of cost, quality of bid and the reputation of the company.
“It’s not a pre-designed or pre-conceived idea.”
While the construction season will not likely fall in line with this summer to use the splash pad, Parsons said it is an achievable goal to have it completed before the end of the year and ready for use next year.
* Edited for clarity on April 25
