Colusa considers installing splash pad near public pool

With $177,000 in special funding for the city of Colusa, officials are discussing the possibility of installing a splash pad near the swimming pool at A.B. Davison Park.

Funds for Proposition 68 – the Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection and Outdoor Access for All Act of 2018 – were released last year and Colusa finalized the acceptance of their allotted funds during the Feb. 2 council meeting. During the meeting, the council also heard a presentation on the proposed splash park water feature by City Engineer David Swartz.

Proposition 68 bond funding, approved by voters in June 2018, is intended to fund the creation and rehabilitation of state and local parks, natural resources protection projects, climate adaptation projects, water quality and supply projects and flood protection projects.

City Manager Jesse Cain said the money has to be used for a new community based feature that will be free for the community to use.

“This money cannot be used for any type of maintenance or deferred maintenance on any of the rest of our parks or anything like that,” said Cain.

According to Cain, the funds are per capita allocation funds, meaning that these are non-competitive funds that the city is not required to match because Colusa is considered a “severely disadvantaged community” by the state.

Kristy Levings, economic development, tourism, communications director for the city of Colusa, said the splash pad project was decided upon through a series of “Community

Conversations” public meetings facilitated by the city over many months in 2020.

Using what she called a “decision making funnel,” Levings said the city examined a few different project options by answering a series of questions to determine the best option for utilizing the funds. The four questions asked were: is it a community request; does it serve the most people; does it fit the grant; and is there existing infrastructure to potentially support a project like this?

“The splash pad was one of the top two things that rose to the surface, top two (new) attractions, during the community meetings, and as a result of putting it through the funnel it emerged as the top one,” said Levings.

Other options explored were maintenance to existing tennis courts, bathrooms, tables and trees at local parks, lower cost projects including a dog park, bocce ball court and a full-sized basketball court as well as a new skate park.

“The splash pad seemed to rise to the top of everything, and more importantly, it fit all the criteria of the grant agreement, and it will serve a better majority of our citizens than a skate park would,” said Cain.

Levings said some of the other projects, including current park maintenance, the dog park and the bocce ball court, will be readdressed when the city does their mid-year budget in March.

Several themes, elements and size options have been proposed for the splash pad, with costs for each proposed project ranging in price from $132,000 to $175,000. Swartz said, if installed, the splash park would be relatively maintenance free and the city will be responsible for the water and sewage management costs.

Cain said the city plans to present the splash pad resolution to council in the near future. The formal application for the proposed splash park project will be submitted, per funding requirements, on March 14, according to Cain.

The city is currently conducting a survey to gather community feedback on the design options for the proposed splash park. The survey can be accessed at http://www. surveymonkey.com/r/ Splashpadelements.

Last month, the Colusa City Council also heard a presentation from the Melton Design Group detailing the Levee

Street Master Plan, another project that could be paid for with Prop 68 funding.

The city is working to secure additional competitive Prop 68 funding for these projects. According to Cain, Colusa is eligible for up to $8.5 million in competitive Prop 68 funding through up to five applications.