Water park will close Aug. 15

Portland Water Park will be closing this month.

The facility, which generally operates through Labor Day, will close for the season after its final day open Aug. 15. Portland Park Board decided the pool’s closing date Tuesday.

Staffing issues forced the early season-end. Water park manager Missy Bader told the board she wasn’t sure if she would be able to find enough lifeguards to staff the pool after Jay School Corporation resumes classes next week.

“Do you run chemicals for (that long) and not be able to open?” she asked.

Bader complimented her 11 staff members for being readily available through the summer, noting the pool was only closed two or three times because of a lack of staff.

Pool tile repairs are needed before spring, too. Matt Shauver of Portland’s street and parks department noted he patched the larger pieces with caulk. The city is currently waiting to hear back from the company that installed the tile for what to do about the issue.

“The pool’s not that old,” said park board member Brian Ison. “It shouldn’t be falling apart. It shouldn’t require this much maintenance.”

Shauver said one of the pool designers mentioned to him those tiles weren’t designed to withstand hot and cold temperatures like those in Indiana, but that’s what was bid out for the project, so it’s what was installed.

Board members added that although the tile repairs are an issue, the lack of staff is the main problem forcing an early close this year.

“It’s everywhere,” Ison said of shorthanded staffs. “Unfortunately that’s the environment we live in.”

Park board agreed unanimously to close the pool after Aug. 15.

Also Tuesday, board members heard an update from Ison about the city’s five-year parks plan. He shared similar remarks to his comments at a Portland City Council meeting Monday, noting 483 surveys have been completed so far.

Current survey results display new trails and a splash pad as some of the top requests, and safety and vandalism are listed as some of the top concerns. Park board will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. Aug 18 to give an overview on preliminary survey results and hear public comments. The public survey at bit.ly/parksurvey21 will remain up until Aug. 27.

Also, Shauver shared several updates about the parks.

More vandalism was found at Haynes Park recently, he said. Swastikas and other symbols had been carved into restroom doors. The department buffed and sanded the marks out. He re-stated the need for security cameras at the parks in order to help prevent vandalism and identify individuals responsible.

Park board selected bids from NuWave Technology of Coldwater, Ohio, for new cameras at Hanes, Hudson and Portland Water parks. There will be three cameras at Haynes Park, five at Hudson Family Park and two cameras plus other equipment at Portland Water Park.

Separate bids from the company were approved for each park, with NuWave’s total amount coming in at $7,021. NuWave was the only company to submit quotes for each park.

Shauver explained the breaker box at the baseball and softball fields at Weiler-Wilson Park that are used by Portland Junior League is extremely outdated and unsafe. Park board then selected a $2,930 bid from 4TC Corporation of Portland for updating the breaker with light switches.

He said updates to the restroom and concession stand building at Portland Memorial Park’s Runkle-Miller Field will be cheaper than constructing a new building. He shared a $4,550 estimate for water lines for the concession stand area and electricity for the restrooms and a $2,700 estimate for new stall doors in the restrooms.

Park board tabled a decision on repairs and other business related to the Portland Rockets –– board members noted their agreed $6,000 contribution toward the field –– until speaking with Rockets manager Randy Miller.

Shauver addressed a comment made by Mike Aker at the city council meeting Monday about the area where tennis courts were removed from Milton Miller Park. The area needs to dry up more so street and parks department staff can haul the dirt, he explained.

“We haven’t forgot about it, but we need it to dry up before we can get busy with that,” he said. “I hate the way it looks, (but) we started the project early, and we got rain, and more rain, and more rain.”