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Beaver Creek Council accepts splash pad bids, appraises former bank building for sale

Lead Summary
By
Lori Sorenson

Beaver Creek City Council members accepted a bid of $175,000 from MC&R, Sioux Falls, for a splash pad at the city park on the southeast side of town.
At their Wednesday, April 8, meeting via Zoom, council members discussed the cost of the splash pad with regard to the coronavirus-depressed economy.
“I’m worried about public perception,” said councilman Jeff Dysthe, who voted against the measure. “It’s public tax dollars, and people aren’t working right now.”
Councilwoman Pat Bender made the motion to accept the MC&R bid (the only one submitted). “Yes, but you’re giving people something to look forward to,” she said, responding to Dysthe.
“The costs are only going to go up if we wait another year.”
The council discussed that grants will cover more than $70,000 of the project, and the rest they plan to pay for through reserves.
Drawings show a 20-by-40-foot oval splash pad surrounded by an 8-foot-wide observation deck attached to a wider cement deck between the splash pad and the picnic shelter.
A cement pad will house a fenced outdoor pump, which will save the expense of an equipment shed and prevent corrosion associated with trapped indoor moisture. Its fence would share the baseball diamond backfield fence.
Splash pad pumps, which aren’t much louder than air-conditioning units, activate water spray jets for 10, 15 or 20 minutes at a time with the press of a button, similar to a public hot tub.
The water jets would operate on a timer that allows their use between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. during the summer months between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
With the bid awarded, work will begin on the splash pad this spring or summer.
 
Bank appraised, for sale
The Beaver Creek City Council accepted the former bank building in January as a donation from Minnwest Bank, which closed the branch office.
At Wednesday’s meeting the council reviewed a recent appraisal and decided to put together a bid packet, along with interior and exterior photos, for interested buyers.
The building was appraised at $35,000, and as long as the council is using it for city purposes, it will be insured for $300.
Until a buyer is found, city maintenance manager Travis Helgeson will use it for an office and light storage.

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