The wear and tear of the water park is staying on the minds of Uhrichsville administration.
Final numbers are expected to be shared at the next council meeting, but Mayor Jim Zucal says they basically broke even for the year. This amount does not cover any portion of the $400,000 bond the city pays each year.
Zucal notes the hurtle they now face is the parks age, since it’s now 18 years old.
“Eight years out, I believe, from final payment, but the amount of repairs that are needed, we had one pump we looked at is $10,000. We have a lot of repairs that need to be done. That’s just a big fish to fry in the community to keep that place running and functioning and managed. It’s really a challenge.”
Service Director Cade Watkins says they have a lot of maintenance issues that will need addressed.
“Honestly, I feel that almost everything down there needs looked at, inspected. A lot of things are failing. Pumps. A lot of things in the pump house are aging. They don’t start up right. Ten thousand dollars was to repair one of those pumps. For a new pump $14,000. We have eight pumps in the pump house and one pump for the fountain, so it is significant, and that’s not even getting into other equipment, the play structure, the slides, the pool itself.”
Street Supervisor Steve Patterson brought up a potential water leak.
“We lost about six inches in one week. I don’t know the exact gallons. I believe we have a significant leak. I was told last year we had some sealing done and painting. I really believe that’s going to be one of our big expenses we’re going to have to look at because we can’t just lose that much water.”
A date is expected for council members to walk around the Water Park and see first-hand the costly issues.
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