Cedar Rapids Today

The Palo City Council met on March 20 and discussed their community splash pad that opened in 2021.

The splash pad did not get as much play as the council wanted to upon opening and in June 2022 one of the two main wells failed and needed service. This caused the city to shut off the splash pad and ask residents to be conservative with their water usage. Later in the summer residents were upset about their latest water bill, with some saying they doubled from previous amounts. The city warned residents of their increased rates, but residents were angry over the skyrocketing amounts and the council’s lack of answers.

“I can make a hard decision. I just think, you know, it's not good enough, I guess,” said council member Jen Welton. “We pay for maintenance on our baseball fields and grounds and things like that. I mean, if you don't have amenities as a community then why do these people want to be here. And with kids and things like that, parks, street maintenance, I totally agree that the splash pad costs a lot compared to some of that. I just want to weigh options carefully before we say a hard yes or no.”

The city opened up a discussion, bluntly stating that this was about whether or not they should continue to operate the splash pad this summer. Chemicals and maintenance cost the city $12,000 for the 2021 season alone. In 2022 when they didn’t have the splash pad open, the city still spent $5,000. Those prices did not include the cost of the water used. There are also some aspects of the splash pad that are starting to leak, wear through, or need repairs and replacements.

The city council debated the issue and ended up agreeing there was more to the cost of running the splash pad than they initially thought or wanted to deal with long term. However, the community was excited about the amenity and children and families use it a lot. Council members wanted to get more data and information, including how the city handled the water since they don’t pay to use their own water but still need to treat it. This increases their operations and supply costs.

The council voted to table the discussion until April 17.