Tuesday afternoon the city of Orange had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new splash pad in Navy Park, but not everyone is happy about it.
At the morning’s city council meeting, Nickie Richard, who lives in the east part of town, complained. She said it’s only a few sprinkler heads set in a circle of concrete.
“The execution of it was a total slap in the face to the neighborhood,” she said.
Richard told the council the concrete will burn children’s feet in the hot sun and will also become slippery. She said she’d have to buy her grandchildren water shoes to take them there.
Instead, she said she’ll continue to drive her grandchildren to neighboring cities to play in their splash parks. She had been looking forward to taking them to play in Orange, but the splash pad “wasn’t what it was supposed to be,” she said.
The city’s building permit said the splash pad cost $58,500. The city used federal community development block grants for the splash pad. The block grants are designated to be used only in low-income neighborhoods.
Richard said she sat in community meetings when the city discussed a splash pad for Navy Park. The intent was to beautify the neighborhood and provide recreation. She said Larry Spears, who now sits on the city council, was in the audience with her during the meeting as a citizen.
At the end of the meeting, City Councilor Spears asked citizens and city staff get together to plan a larger, more elaborate splash pad, along with a location. He said the planning should be made during budget workshops held in the summer for the 2016-17 budget.
Also during the meeting, City Councilor Essie Bellfield said the council used to have neighborhood meetings so council members could hear from individuals. The city has not had the neighborhood meetings during the past couple of years and she said the meetings need to be brought back.
In other business, the council approved a change to allow day care centers in a Commercial Zoning Special area. Planning Director Kelvin Knauf said the Orange Church of God wants to operate a day care center at the church, 1907 16th Street. Knauf said the Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend the change. Any time someone wants a day care or school in a Commercial Special area, the proposal will have to go through the Board of Adjustment.
The Reverend Demetrious Moffet with the church said hopes to establish a learning center for children.
During the citizen comments, Chuck Peterson, who lives in the Old Orange Historic District, talked about moving city hall from the historic area to 16th Street. He is encouraging the city to remodel the vacant bank building on Fifth Street in downtown and keep some city offices in the 1920s mansion that has served as city hall for 70 years. He criticized the city’s figures and estimates that were given to the public through a written media release.
Social Media