Peters Twp. Approves Design Contract For Splash Pad

The long story of an aquatic center in Peters Township took another turn during the council meeting Monday night. On the agenda was an item to approve a design contract for a splash pad in phase one of the development of the aquatic center. The measure passed narrowly 3-2. Councilmen Tom Pirosko, Frank Kosir and Bob Lewis voted in favor of the contract. Voting no were Frank Arcuri and Gary Stiegel. Absent from the meeting were councilpersons Allison Shanafelt and Matt Rost. The authorization gives engineering and architecture firm Kimmel Bogrette the go ahead to design the project and implement bidding services. Phase one of the project will be the construction of a splash pad, a building that houses a party room, rest rooms, shelters and parking. Kimmel Borgett estimates the project to be in the range of $5.5-$6.4 million. A matching funds grant and available bond monies will be used to finance the project. One resident spoke out against the project. Eileen Burkhardt says that she feels that the project is not a good use of township funds given the limited amount of time the splash pad would be used because of weather and the number of people that would be using that type of facility.