Cooling off in the scorching summer heat

L-R: Logan, 2, Jordan, 5, Kennedy, 1, and father Chris Marlo of Old Town are regular visitors and find a welcome respite from soaring temperatures at Alachua’s splash park.

ALACHUA – With temperatures reaching well into the 90s, it seems the place to cool down from the scorching summer heat at Alachua’s Splash Park.

Each week, hundreds of children are catching a break and splashing through the various water features at the park, now that summer is in full swing.

“Right now, we’re seeing about 500 children per week at the splash park, with the highest numbers during the weekends,” Alachua Recreation Director Hal Brady said Wednesday afternoon.

Brady said the park has been staying busy every day, including weekends.  And fun doesn’t begin in the blazing afternoon heat.  “The water comes on at 9 a.m. and turns off at 6 p.m., seven days a week,” said Brady.

These days, it can be tough to come by summer activities that don’t burn a hole through the wallets of parents.  Consider that a single-day pass to Universal Orlando’s water park is more than $71 plus tax, and admission to either of Disney’s water parks is nearly $95.

For families looking for fun ways to beat the heat without hanging the plastic in their wallets out to melt, there are plenty of places to check out right here in Alachua County.

The splash park at the Hal Brady Recreation Complex is an easy pick for those looking to get out of the house without overheating, overspending or overdriving.  Just a minute’s drive from downtown Alachua at 14300 NW 146^th Terrace, admission to the splash park comes at a cheap price – free.

High Springs mother Andrea Sowards has already become a fan of the splash park this year.  She visited about a month ago and again on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 11.  Sowards brought her sons, three-year-old Aiden, and two-year-old, Collin, to cool off.

“We like coming here because it’s nearby,” Sowards said.

Rose Fennel, of Gainesville, brought her three daughters to enjoy the splash park Wednesday.  Fennell said she discovered the park one day when she picked her husband up from the Dollar General Distribution center and the couple enjoyed a lunch at the Hal Brady Recreation Complex.

“We saw the splash park and all of the children having fun and I thought it would be great to bring my girls down here to enjoy it, too,” said Fennell.  After a couple of hours at the park on Wednesday, Fennell said she was ready to go, but would be back again.

Some people cooling off in the park traveled from much farther away than High Springs or Gainesville.  Old Town, Fla. resident and father of three, Chris Marlo, has brought his children to park several times.  Marlo said he heard about the park through news coverage in years past.  Although the drive from his house is roughly 45 minutes, he said he’s come to the park nearly a half-dozen times over the years.

“This is a safe, good environment with good people,” Marlo cited as one of the reasons he continues returning with his children to the spray park.

The park features a water tent, water dumping bucket brigade, water bars and water jets of many kinds including water spouts, bubblers, geysers and fountains.

Surrounding all the action is ample grass and a few picnic tables shaded by trees, beyond the range of any splashing or spraying. A high chain-link fence with a childproof gate encloses the entire area.

The splash park is open seven days a week in the summer from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but hours may vary if someone reserves it.

The splash park was built about four years ago.  City of Alachua officials hope to expand the size of the spray park to roughly double the pad and features.

If there is a craving for a pool to jump into, one can be found at the Westside Recreation Center in Gainesville.

Commonly referred to as Westside Park, the center is located at 1001 NW 34^th Street.  The facility features the 50-meter H. Spurgeon Cherry pool, diving boards and diving towers, a “splash pad” and an “aqua slide.”

Through Sunday, the park opens daily at noon.  Starting Monday, Aug. 22, the park will open at 3 p.m. on weekdays.

Admission for adults is $3.85, and $2.45 for children ages 3 to 17 and for seniors 55 and up.

Gainesville is also home to two other public pools, the Northeast Pool, at 1100 NE 14^th Street, and Mickle Pool, at 1717 SE 15^th Street.  All three pools in Gainesville are staffed with lifeguards.

Brady said the splash park in Alachua is already rented for birthdays and other celebrations on Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. until noon through Sept. 22.  Although not as frequently, the park has been rented during the same times on Sundays, too.

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On Tuesday workers laid new asphalt over what had been a 20-foot deep sinkhole on Northwest 115^th Avenue.

ALACHUA – City of Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper took a step to financially prepare the City for natural disasters by officially declaring a local state of emergency at a special city commission meeting Tuesday.

The proclamation allows for City Manager Traci Cain “to take all reasonable and necessary emergency measures” to provide continuing safety services to the city.

This includes the waiving of the city’s purchasing guidelines and ordinances, allowing the city manager to procure emergency goods and services without competitive bidding or the requirement to seek approval from the city commission.

Marcian Brown, finance director for the City of Alachua, stated that the proclamation is not a reaction but rather a precaution, noting that the City must declare a local state of emergency in order to potentially receive funding from FEMA should Alachua County become eligible for emergency funds.

The proclamation came after Tropical Storm Debby caused a variety of damage in the area, including a sinkhole on Northwest 115th Avenue.

According to Mike New, the City of Alachua public services director, the sinkhole was 2 feet in diameter at the surface but was 20 feet deep and 20 feet in diameter beneath the ground.

Workers from the City of Alachua began to fix the hole with backfill compacting and installing grouting tubes, eventually adding concrete inside the hole.  On Tuesday afternoon, workers completed much of the asphalt restoration on the surface of the hole.

The cost of repairing this sinkhole is estimated at $45,000-$50,000.  New noted that there are a few other sinkholes in the area and supports the proclamation of a state of emergency in order to allot necessary funds to fix problems such as these.

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Alternate Chair Pro-tempore Jordan Marlowe, Commissioner Joe Hoffman and Commissioner Lois Forte passed a resolution to set the preliminary residential fire assessment rate at $124 for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

City staff recommended this rate because it would allow the commission to lower the fire assessment rate when the other commissioners are in attendance. The rate can be brought down, but can not be brought back up, City Manager Keith Ashby explained.

Currently the fire assessment is set at $75. Two years ago the commission passed a resolution to keep the fire assessment rate between $75 and $124.

“I do not want the City of Newberry to lose their fire department,” Forte said. “And if it means raising our assessment up a little bit to keep our fire department, I’m all in favor for raising it a little bit.”

Hoffman said that if the commission plans on raising the fire assessment rate, it should consider lowering the mileage rate to compensate. If the commission wanted to raise taxes overall, the matter would require more commissioners in attendance.

Marlowe proposed that in the future, the assessment fee be based on square footage of the residential house instead of a flat fee, which makes it a type of regressive tax.

“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me that if I’ve got a 1,200-square-foot house, I’m paying the same thing that someone who has a 3,000-square-foot house is paying to get a service,” he said.

City Attorney Scott Walker said that this change probably could not be developed in time for the upcoming fiscal year.

The commissioners agreed that accepting the higher assessment rate would prevent the other commissioners from being tied to a decision they did not make.

“We certainly don’t want to do anything that prevents them from having a say,” Marlowe said.

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Although they were unable to take any official action in the workshop, at least some of the commissioners seemed to lay the groundwork to find a replacement for Langman.  Vice-Mayor Bob Barnas and Commissioner Linda Gestrin made it clear that they wanted to move ahead with the search for a new city manager.

It was Barnas, Gestrin and Mayor Dean Davis who hired Langman as the interim city manager last November, making her permanent on Feb. 9.

Much of the discussion seemed to focus on the potential termination of Langman as the city manager, rather than a potential hiring process.

Commissioner Scott Jamison said he disagreed with how some commissioners view their own roles. “Several of my colleagues up here believe that it is the responsibility of the commissioners to have a hands-on or quasi-micromanagement relationship with the city manager,” he said.

Moreover, Jamison said he was worried that hiring another city manager could prove fruitless.  “I don’t believe that with the current state that we’re in right now, that we’ll be able to hire a long-term person as a city manager if we don’t allow them to manage.”

Gestrin said she was interested in finding a city manager who could best help High Springs with its current needs.

“Right now, because of the condition of our City, I would like to see someone with a professional background in business and financial, someone that can handle contracts, someone that knows how to negotiate contracts,” Gestrin said.

Commissioner Sue Weller noted ongoing discussions of amending the city’s Charter and the potential impacts doing so could have on the city manager candidates. “I’m not sure it’s fair to go forward with trying to hire a city manager at this point… knowing that there’s a possibility the Charter may change.”

“At this point, we may need to step back and see what’s going to happen on the Charter.”

Jamison and Weller also expressed concern over providing notice to Langman if the commission decides to find another city manager.  Based on requirements of the City of High Springs Charter, terminating the employment of a permanent city manager triggers a series of notices and potential hearings that could take as long as 45 days.  That, Jamison and Weller contend, could place the City in a bind if it conflicts with bringing on a new city manager.

Gestrin said that at the time Langman was appointed the permanent city manager, it was discussed that she would fulfill that role through November.

Firing back against that claim, however, was former High Springs City Attorney and current resident Thomas Depeter who said putting a time limit on the city manager position would be violation of the Charter.

“If any of you think you hired the city manager until November, you do not have a clue how your Charter works,” Depeter said.  “You do not have the power to put a time period on that employment,” he added.

While no action was taken, commissioners did discuss potential salaries for a new city manager, which ranged from $48,000 to $75,000 annually.  They also considered where advertisements would be placed.

Further details are slated to be hammered out during a 6:30 p.m. commission meeting on Thursday, July 12 at City Hall.

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