Le Roy Town Board is planning to make a splash this summer— but not without navigating a few pitfalls.
At their biweekly meeting this Thursday, board members discussed issues concerning the anticipated opening of a splash pad near Wildwood Park.
“The completion date is now closer to the end of June,” Supervisor James Farnholz said during the board meeting at Le Roy Town Hall. “We’re having some Monroe County water issues; they’re continually changing how they want the water brought in.”
The presiding members, including Farnholz, expressed some confusion with the changes, as the park was initially intended to open on Memorial Day weekend.
“Why, all of a sudden, is it an issue where the backflow is?” Councilperson Bill Fox said. “They had to know where it was to start out with.”
Members offered nods of agreement with Fox as Farnholz provided clarification.
“The original intent with the spray park was that the water would go into the storm drains, and then the fresh water would go into the Oatka,” Farnholz said “Unfortunately, there are no storm drains that run from Wildwood to the Oatka. It just runs out into the woods.”
At the project’s consequential standstill, members discussed several options to responsibly commandeer backflow from the park.
“There were three options the mayor and I discussed,” Farnholz said. “The first was to let it continue to drain the way it is now, and see what kind of impact that has on that property. If it makes too much water, we can remediate that with some kind of irrigation containers in the softball fields. I am opposed to a concrete cistern— I think that’s a ridiculous thing. The other option, that I think would be horrifically expensive, would be to trench from Wildwood to Gilbert street and hook into the storm drains.”
The board acknowledged that the village would have the final say, and projected the direction of their decision in light of their conversation.
“As it stands now, I believe the village is going to go with the first option, and see what happens,” Farnholz said.
In other actions, the board:
● Agreed to allow local municipalities to allot their preferred number of court justices, rather than requiring two.
● Approved four 10-hour workdays for the local highway department.
● Discussed a move to compel voter registration reform, considering the 2020 Election, with a draft of such changes to return to the next meeting. The board will meet again at 7 p.m. June 9 at the Le Roy Town Hall Building, 48 Main St., Le Roy.
Photo: Le Roy Town Board members grapple with details of a new waterpark that was originally planned to open on Memorial Day. Photo by Tate Fonda.
