Debate heats up over Riverside splash pad

RIVERSIDE - Images of children running through geysers and fountains on a public splash pad in the heart of Riverside are fading in the minds of some residents - at least for this summer. But other community members aren't ready to give up on the idea yet.

“Riverside residents get to the city council meeting Tuesday night,” one person wrote on Facebook this week. “Help us try to get the mayor's veto overturned.”

Mayor Bill Poch last week vetoed the proposed splash pad that a week earlier had been approved by the Riverside City Council on a 3-2 vote. He cited concerns about the proposed location, design details, lack of proper planning, poor communication and liability issues.

The City Council has 30 days to override Poch's veto if four of the five members agree in favor of the splash pad. Community members wanting to construct the pad this spring are hoping to sway at least one of the two council members who voted against the pad earlier this month by organizing a big turnout for tonight's council meeting.

“We'll see how many people want something like this to play on,” Riverside resident Thomas McLaughlin, 39, said. “There could be enough people to sway one of the council members to oppose his veto.”

Poch, in his written veto, outlines 13 reasons why he doesn't support going forward with a splash pad right now. They include lack of communication with all council members on the design and project cost, no information on how much it will cost to maintain the site, a need for discussion about sidewalks, lighting and handicap access, and no plan on how to deal with a water shortage.

“The splash pad may be worthwhile, but if it is ... let's do it right the first time rather than building it then finding out we acted too fast,” he wrote. “Is this the way to spend public funds?”

The project is expected to cost about $170,000, although the final number is unknown, said Riverside City Council member Kevin Kiene, who voted for the splash pad. The Washington County Riverboat Foundation has awarded the city a $70,000 grant for the splash pad, and Kiene said if the city doesn't use that money on a splash pad, it will lose the funding.

“I think this would be an economic draw for the city,” he said. “I think it would be an unusual thing that no small town in our area has.”

Kiene disagreed with the mayor's assertion that the project has been rushed, saying the city budgeted for the splash pad last year. Many of the mayor's questions and concerns have been discussed and addressed since they first began considering the pad, Kiene said.

“And every time I've been to one, they are packed with kids,” he said.

Council member Robert Schneider Jr., one of the two members who opposed the splash pad, said he doesn't see the project happening any time soon because he, for one, has no intentions of changing his tune.

“We need to have more dialogue and honest dialogue where we're talking about everything and not just doing it under the table,” he said. “As far as I'm concerned, I don't see me changing my mind no matter how many people come forward.”

Schneider stressed that he isn't against the splash pad, but he doesn't want to move forward with the project until the city has determined a total cost and talked through all the community concerns, including how to make the pad environmentally friendly.

“I have a real problem with the amount of water this thing was going to flow through,” he said. “Lots of people who are against this aren't against the splash pad but rather the site and the amount of water and not having enough information to make a good decision.”