Loyal parks committee receives splash pad update, discusses pickleball court

By Valorie Brecht The Loyal Splash Pad project continues to move forward, as project organizers endeavor to get all the on-site planning steps completed before winter sets in.

City council member and splash pad committee member Curtiss Lindner gave an update to the city’s parks and recreation committee at their meeting last Wednesday.

“So in order to get approval for the surface level discharge permit, we have to have a finalized site plan,” he said.

He showed the committee members a tentative site plan that would put the splash pad between the two shelters at the Westside Park, not directly in line with them but to the east, around where the dumpster is now. He asked the committee members what they thought of that location or if they had alternatives.

“It looks kinda congested,” said committee member Tim Froeba, who suggested putting the splash pad south of the southernmost picnic shelter.

However, Lindner thought that would be getting too far away from the restrooms, as state code specifies it has to be within 400 feet of a restroom. Another thought was moving the splash pad north so it was more in line with the northern shelter. However, Lindner said he would like to keep some open space to the east of the restrooms, that way if the splash pad committee raised enough money, they could eventually add shower rooms next to the restrooms for rinsing off.

In the end, the committee figured the current location was about as good as any. Lindner had a meeting scheduled for Nov. 8 with Xcel Energy and an electrician, to confirm there was at least a 26-foot setback from where water would be to the closest overhead line. They also planned to confirm the setback from the single phase transformer near the splash pad location.

Lindner said he would also need to speak with the city engineer to finalize the water discharge permit. Other action steps include finalizing the high capacity well permit, confirming the sanitary and building setbacks, finalizing the site design and finalizing the location for the equipment building. The equipment building is planned to be just to the east of the southern shelter. Committee members were fine with that location. Another step is to have the three-phase transformer and outdoor breaker box set.

Once all the items in the previous paragraph are complete, the committee will need to set a date and time for a contractors’ meeting and hire a project foreman. They will also look at setting bid specifications for a civil site (dirt work), electrical, plumbing, concrete and possible landscaping. After that, they plan to advertise bids for two to three weeks and then award bids.

Other business The committee also discussed turning the sand volleyball court into a pickleball court. Jenae Weyer had suggested this because pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the country and she knew there were local people who would have an interest in playing pickleball. Other nearby communities like Greenwood and Spencer have recently gotten pickleball courts.

Lindner said he was not opposed to the idea, but was not interested in looking into it until the splash pad was done. Weyer agreed that it shouldn’t be on Lindner to look at the pickleball project, because he was already busy enough with the splash pad, but thought maybe she could find people to run with the idea.

“If we got the right people, we could do it,” she said.

She also said she was somewhat concerned about sand from the volleyball court getting into the splash pad system. Lindner said with it being a flow-through system, it wasn’t as much of a concern as if it were a recirculating system, but they would still want to try and control that.

“If and when someone decides to pursue this, you just have to be prepared for pushback because people do use the volleyball court,” said Lindner. “A lot of Mennonites use it. There would definitely be a way to keep it.”

As with any community project, if the city decided to pursue it, the challenge would be funding. However, there are several grant opportunities out there, especially for outdoor recreation improvements. Lindner worked on the city plan that was submitted to the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (WCWRPC) and believed there would be funding available through that.

“If not 50/50, you could potentially get even 100-percent funded,” he said.

He said he could reach out to the WCWRPC representative for this area and see what funding options there were, and what the process would be to apply for a grant, because he had already been planning on contacting the WCWRPC regarding putting in a baseball field. He planned to report back to the committee what he found out.

If anyone has interest in a pickleball court project, they can contact city hall at 715-255-8772.