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Silver Creek man wants attention for ‘awful’ playground

SILVER CREEK — While the discussion of bringing a splash pad to the village is in its infancy, Mayor Jeff Hornburg and the rest of the Village Board are in favor of progressing down that path with assistance from the town of Hanover and the Kiwanis Club.

Silver Creek resident Josh Leamon voiced some concerns with the splash pad this week. Most of his worries are from the rates on the water bills within the village, as well as the state of the playground that remains in the Village Park.

“I understand why the water bills are high, they’re circumstances beyond everyone’s control,” Leman said to the board. “But now with the high water bills, we’re thinking about putting in a splash pad, which is going to use water. It feels kind of like a slap in the face, especially when there’s other things to do with families.”

Leamon said he’s taken his son to the park in Silver Creek and described the experience as “awful.” Leamon’s solution is to dedicate the funds that would be used for the pad and instead upgrade the playground to be more functional.

“The slide is ancient, the swings are cruddy,” Leamon said. “That park is just bad. I know we have the school playground but you can’t go to it when school is in session. My thought was instead of putting in money for a splash pad, funnel that money into getting a really nice playground for the youngest ones.”

Leamon said he appreciates the thought of wanting to get outdoor activities into the village for kids to participate in, but another concern he has is the splash pad and playground that is now in Dunkirk.

“Dunkirk put in a splash pad down Route 5 and they also have a nice playground,” Leamon said. “Right now the splash pad there isn’t being used, it’s only used from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I still take my son down there to play with the playground. If we put a splash pad in Silver Creek, I’m still probably going to go to Dunkirk because they have the splash pad and the playground.”

Hornburg said up front that he is in favor of the splash pad, though the idea remains in the exploratory stage. To quell Leamon’s concern over the water usage, Hornburg said that it will use water, but 90 percent of that water is captured and reused.

“This is recycled, filtered, chlorified, and reused,” Hornburg said. “Can I tell you how much water it would use? I can’t right now but that’s one of the things we’re looking at.”

In regard to the playground, the Village Board agreed with Leamon’s concerns that the playground needs some upgrades. Hornburg said they would be looking at playground equipment to go along with the project, depending on where the splash pad is placed. The village has an application for Borrello Park, and part of that application is brand new playground equipment there.

“Your comments are well taken and I don’t mind looking at the playground at the same time,” Hornburg said. “The splash pad is not a done deal. It’s a realistic dream we’re going to explore, research, and bring back the best we can. I will take the comments on the playground, take it to the people I’m working with and see if we can get it done in one fell swoop. If the grant for Borrello Park goes through, there will be two different playgrounds.”

Village Trustee Stephen Romanik went a step further than Hornburg, telling Leamon that should he have any suggestions for equipment he’d like to see at the playground, to let the Board know so they can look at it. “If you’d like to give us suggestions for what we should have down there, we’d like to take that from you,” Romanik said. “It’s due to be replaced.”

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