Pool heater installed

The new pool heater is in place.

It will be put into service next week.

Portland Park Board heard updates regarding Portland Water Park during its meeting Tuesday, including that the new heater at the facility has been installed and will be activated Monday.

Street and parks department superintendent Matt Shauver told the board that the new pool heater has been installed and is in working order. It will remain off, though, until representatives from manufacturer Raypak visit the pool next week to start it.

The heater is a new upgrade to the pool after a group led by Bev Arnold and Rob Weaver donated funds to cover the $67,808 cost of the device.

Shauver and parks manager Ronnie Reynolds also explained that the stability of pool chemical levels seems to have leveled out after some water lines were rerouted.

Board members Brian Ison, John McFarland, Jennifer Weitzel and Michael Brewster, absent Shauna Runkle, were also informed Monday that costs to install the heater were higher than expected, with overages of $2,800 in parts and $1,600 in labor. An additional $4,000 in labor was also incurred to deal with issues regarding chemicals. In total, the facility is about $15,000 over budget for maintenance.

Also Tuesday, the park board approved reducing season pass prices to $100 for two people in the same family, $125 for three, $175 for four, $225 for five and $275 for six or more beginning Monday. (The facility is scheduled to be open until Aug. 11 this year.)

Board members briefly discussed the possibility of selling 2025 pool passes in advance.

Reynolds also provided updates that mulch has been placed at all of the playgrounds at all of the city’s parks; a sidewalk has been poured to the new pickleball court at Milton Miller Park; some new sidewalks and cornhole courts have been installed at Haynes Park, with a hillbilly golf court to come; wildflowers have been planted near the amphitheater and the playground at Hudson Family Park; trails have been cleaned out along trails in Hudson Family Park; and shrubs have been cleaned up along the edges of Portland Memorial Park.

In other business, the board:

•Heard the city is working with Jay County Pee Wee Football on a project to paint the concession building at Hines-Inman Memorial Field. The city bought the paint and league volunteers will handle the work.

•Approved a permit to allow Arts Place to have alcohol sales at its Whoa, Man! Band concert July 18 at Hudson Family Park. (An ordinance regulating the sale of alcohol in city parks will be up for approval on second reading at the July 15 Portland City Council meeting. It requires that any organization seeking to sell alcohol in a city park to receive a permit to do so by petitioning the park board.)

•Heard a suggestion from Shauver to place signs with rental information at the Hudson Family Park amphitheater in order to encourage more usage of the facility. The board also discussed having reservations available for other park facilities, which are currently used on a first-come, first-serve basis.

•Tabled a request from The Portland Rockets for the addition of a concrete pad in front of the concession stand at Portland Memorial Park’s Runkle-Miller Field. The Rockets offered to pay for the materials if city employees will do the work. Ison asked Shauver and his staff to review the project before the park board votes to move forward. (A written agreement will also be required.)

•Heard from Shauver that his department is working through the city’s insurance provider regarding the Hudson Family Park fountains that were damaged because of an electrical issue.

•Heard a suggestion from Reynolds that the Hudson Family Park sign and arch be painted.