This story first appeared in the July 21 issue of the Community Voice. For your subscription, call 270-384-9454.
The Columbia City Council took its final step forward to securing a planned splash pad for the city park at the old Fairgrounds Mon- day afternoon in a special called meeting. The council voted unanimously to accept a bid of $139,951 from Blue- grass Recreation Sales and Installation of Danville.
“It is a land and water conservation grant, which is a 50 percent grant, and part of it can be in-kind work,” said Columbia Mayor Pam Hoots. “We have already been doing some work with the restrooms down at the fair- grounds and that will be in-kind for this grant.”
The pad is going to be 2,400 square feet with 12 water features. Once the bids happen, it takes 45 days to two months to get all the permits through the process. Then they can start with construction work. Hoots said the grant is for up to $250,000.
“There are a lot of services we provide, like blacktopping roads, sidewalks, things people like, but not everyone gets use out of,” said councilman Mark Harris. “This is one thing the public is going to get use out of, something they can get their hands on.”
Mayor Hoots said she had fielded questions about water usage at the splash pad. She said excessive water usage would not be a problem because the water would automatically be turned off when the pad was not in use.
The council also voted to accept a bid from AgRevolution, LLC. for a new tractor for the city. The bid was $41,300. It also accepted a bid from Don
Franklin Family of Dealerships for four police vehicles, three Dodge Durangos and a truck. The total bid was $143,387. Two of the vehicles will be purchased through ABC funding, one through money from the American Rescue Plan Act, and one through the police department’s budget.
Adams Excavating won the bid for cleanup of the city park on Burkesville St. The bid was $5,200 and will include taking down a chimney, cleanup around the foundation from a former house, and saving part of the bricks and tin to be hauled off by the city. Part of the brick is to be used for a walkway on site.
The council voted 5-1 with councilwoman Linda Waggener voting against the motion because she wanted the council to explore saving the chimney.
In addition, the council voted to accept a motion to renew the School Resource Officer con- tract with the Adair County Board of Education. The city pays for officers at three of the four district schools, and the school district pays the city to cover one of them. The county pays for the fourth SRO.
The council approved a request for the city to apply for a Kentucky Department of Library and Archives Local Records Grant for electronic records for the Columbia Police Department. Chief Jr. Murphy said the grant would allow his department to purchase the software it would need to keep reports and information on file with easier access.
