By Abigail Roberts
A committee that was formed to explore the possibility of a Splash Pad in Stanford approached the Lincoln County Fiscal Court Tuesday to gauge the county’s interest in a potential partnership.
Stanford City Council members Eddie Carter and Ronnie Deatherage, along with Stanford Fire Chief Scott Maples, discussed the potential project during the fiscal court’s Aug. 25 meeting.
“The City of Stanford has received a considerable number of requests from the public for a Splash Pad to serve the children and families of our area,” a print out reads. “In response, City Council formed a committee to gather information, explore options and prepare a full packet for presentation to all interested parties at the beginning of next year.”
Carter said there has been a lot of public interest in installing a Splash Pad.
Maples said the committee believes the property located near the L&N Depot would be best suited for a Splash Pad because of project costs, accessibility and the potential economic impact for the community. A location has not been formally chosen, he added.
“With the weather as hot as it’s been, and obviously could be the same next year, we don’t have a pool anywhere,” Deatherage said. “This was brought up in July at a Council meeting as a way to give back to the community and providing something for not just Stanford but Lincoln County residents.”
Deatherage said the committee has looked at several Splash Pads and designs.
“The ones we looked at in Danville they just run back into the ground drainage,” Deatherage said. “We looked at several different places. Up by the Depot we’ve got a flat area up there and there’s a playground, of course there is parking there and would bring people downtown…this is just preliminary. We’re just looking to see if there’s any interest in you guys to see if you want to go in with us and help us in this in any way. There’s no commitment from anybody right now. We’re just gathering information to see how feasible it is and what kind of community support we can get from different agencies, grants and different things to put this into play. We think it would be a good thing.”
The committee provided a print out of details including estimated costs from $250,000 to $450,000 depending on final size and features.
The committee is also actively exploring several grant sources that support outdoor recreation projects including Land and Water Conservation Fund grants and Bluegrass Area Development District, which provides free grant writing and application support to local governments in Lincoln County. There are also other state and federal recreation and community development grants the committee is exploring.
Lincoln County Judge Executive Woods Adams said the City of Stanford and the Lincoln County Fiscal Court has a strong relationship.
“If you look at that picture there, who is going to say no to Splash Pad in the middle of town that’s accessible and it’s for the kids,” Adams said. “It’s hard to say no to that, but at the same time there’s a lot of ground work to be done, I think, and part of that is meeting with Danville, if they’re the closest, to see what are the obstacles and downsides of it. This is upside.”
Deatherage said the committee is just getting started but wanted to keep the Fiscal Court and other agencies informed and gauge the community’s for interest in partnership.
“I think a big question mark is what are the reoccurring expenses,” Adams said. “That’s the thing that scares us the most. We’ve got the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money but of course it’s gone now. But you’ve got to be cautious to spend those on one-time things because that ARPA money is not here anymore, or at least I don’t think it is.”
Maples said the committee will be gathering that information and should have more concrete details by the beginning of next year.
Magistrate David Faulkner said the decision will probably come after he is out of office but he would vote yes.
“I think it serves a group of people that do not come to the park…in Lincoln County there is a group of people that would probably utilize this that don’t come to the park for athletic activities. A lot of young children would be serviced in this situation,” Faulkner said.
