A consultant Palm Coast hired to evaluate the problems at the city’s $5.1 million splash pad at Holland Park, which closed not long after it opened last year, found potential building code violations, non-compliance with sanitary standards, poorly engineered waterworks that amplify water loss, a splash pad surface that deteriorated and bunched up, causing falling hazards, and that collected water in unsanitary ways, and otherwise “very unusual activities and observations that are seldom ever encountered by our firm.”
The report cost the city $50,000. It is the work of Martin Aquatics, the engineering firm the city hired to evaluate what went wrong at the splash pad, whom to blame among contractors and subcontractors, and what should be fixed. Martin Aquatics outlines what should be fixed, but how to do that would be the next step, if the city takes on the firm as its engineering form of record.
To design those fixes, Martin Aquatics would charge the city $92,000. That proposal is before the City Council this evening.
The council is expected to approve that re-engineering step. The city administration is tallying all repair costs as it intends to recoup them, through legal action if necessary, from parties responsible for the splash pad construction. The attorney the city hired for the purpose said the city should be prepared to sue if necessary. But mediation is planned for October between the city and the contractors in an effort to avoid that step.
Meanwhile, the consultants’ report leaves no doubt that the splash pad, intended to be the crown jewel of the city’s parks, could not but close after only a few fitful weeks of operations after its May 2021 opening to great fanfare: its IWF, or Interactive Water Features, as goes the way consultants refer to a splash pad, were dysfunctional. What had started as electrical issues, then filtering issues, then pad surface issues (as the city’s communications office was compelled to portray the series of unfortunate events) soon took on the appearance of a boondoggle.
Martin Aquatics’ report illustrates the extent in words as dispiriting as the pictures and in ways that may leave council members pondering how the splash pad could be merely repaired, as opposed to rebuilt. Either way, the cost will not be minor, and the city is not necessarily assured of a win in court, if it intends to recover all costs. (See the full report below.)
Here’s a summary of the consultants’ findings:
The state’s building code requires the wet decking around the pad to slope at between 2 to 4 percent for the first 4 feet. No such slope could be found, as several areas did not even have the required 4 feet of wet-deck (the code allows half the space to fall below the 4-foot threshold). Improper drainage leads to the formation of algae and “other undesirable bio-organisms.” As a consequence, “these wet-deck areas appear not to be code compliant” with the state’s building code. The Health Department issued a variance to BBI Construction, one of the contractors, on behalf of the city to allow for certain qualified uses of the porous deck, but the variance “does not address this potential code issue,” the report states.
That potential issue led Martin Aquatic to need the entire removal of the splash pad surface and to recommend its replacement with a surface that meets sanitary standards and the city’s desired color scheme. The removal took place in late August.
There are issues with the “subdeck” of the splash pad, beneath what used to be its visible surface: it does not slope toward the drainage reservoir as as it should. That “can cause puddling on top of the concrete sub-deck, possibly causing [splash-pad] spray water not to be returned to the reservoir tank rapidly, thus potentially causing excessive draw-downs inside the Reservoir Tank, and an excessive water-make-up and corresponding chemical loss.”
There were many issues with the splash pad surface itself, installed by a company called No Fault. It literally moved and bunched up, causing tripping hazards to bathers and ripping in parts. The report does not clarify whether the bunching up and the rips predate the closure of the pad almost a year ago, or have occurred since, though presumably time and use would not have led to a different result, but perhaps to injuries. The material itself appears “not to maintain a chemical bond,” the report finds, and is not adhering to its structural deck below the surface. The deck pad material is “exhibiting evidence of poor quality, with numerous locations failing,” the report states.
Water had been pooling between the surface finish and a lower layer, causing the wet-deck system to retain water for an indefinite amount of time rather than recirculate it. As a result, the system is “acting similar to a giant sponge, soaking up undetermined volumes of water” during the splash pad’s operation and delaying water getting returned to the reservoir tank.
No Fault, a Baton Rouge, La.-based company that specializes in playground and splash pad construction, installed the finishing material–including the blue and tan portion of the pad–but that material “appears to have NO National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) approvals and is not certified as complying with” NSF standards that address equipment and chemicals for recreational water facilities.
Martin Aquatic also observed “large areas of loose, soft, crumbling (perhaps hazardous), disintegrating, porous material covering a thickened layer of No-Fault black-color porous materials that have excessively degraded” and may be unsanitary from constant exposure to recirculated splash pad water with high chlorine.
There are issues with the waterworks, from lost water to poorly engineered water flows that compound unintended issues. The water jetting out of sprays as it passes through the deck, or pad, takes on a “less-than-clear” appearances, in the words chosen by the report’s authors, “causing us concern as to what water seepage contaminants and deleterious material properties are being transferred, which may allow children and bathers to swallow or ingest the water spray, and allow it to enter their eyes and nose.”
Some of the water jets away from the play area, resulting in further water loss. Since the reservoir tank has drained too fast, the city installed an additional 2.5-inch water supply pipe as a temporary fix. When the splash pad opened, the city underscored its water-usage efficiency. Some of the water pools in unintended areas, and some ends up draining on surrounding vegetation. The pumps needed “an excessive time” to get going enough to spray water where desired (that was traced to water leakage in a sanitizer unit).
There are also problems in the equipment room–another area the city showed off for its versatility and seeming otherworldliness of innumerable functions. The consultants found basic measures–like the target water measures intended to be in the collector tank–missing from design drawings though those targets are essential for the operation of the system. The consultants make a reference to that and to the city’s addition of a water pipe to make up for water loss, and state in one of the more damning passages of the report: “These are very unusual activities and observations that are seldom ever encountered by our firm. Therefore, Martin Aquatic believes such inadequacies or operational issues should never occur in a properly designed and constructed” splash pad.
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Jack Howell says
When I was on the City Council, I voted against this purchase. I had previous experience with a splash park in Jacksonville. I was nothing short of a disaster. However, my fellow councilmen decided they knew best, and you see what we are dealing with! We have public pools and an ocean for recreation. DON”T PISS AWAY ANOTHER DOLLAR ON THIS PROJECT. Build pickleball courts or something else. And don’t give me that crap that the ocean is not safe to swim or play in. Parents, watch your children at the beach. It is not the job of ocean rescue to be your beach babysitter. Parent for a change!
Jimbo99 says
Exactly, & sue the builder for the entire $ 5.6 million, making the builder come out and clear the park & restore it to original state. Hauling all that debris away. That’s the only remedy for a splash pad that was broken weeks after the ribbon cutting ceremony for maintenance.
Water World says
Okay boomer. Go back to your retirement and Scotch on the rocks. Thank you for your service. The tens of thousands of splashpads across the country, including the dozen in Jacksonville, are all apparently a bad idea according to a quiter in Palm Coast, FL., who also thinks we shouldn’t have lifeguards at the beach. In Florida.
Carol says
I also blame the City inspector for not doing his/her job. Inspections should not have been passed.
Mark says
“found potential building code violations, ”
Naw, you don’t say? Besides the contractors the city has itself to blame.
The ORIGINAL land of no turn signals says
Hey,it’s only 5 million what’s the big deal look at the wasted money on mold infested and water logged buildings in the county purchase.Pay raises for everyone.
Denali says
So in the 30-some years I spent in design, construction and the regulation of construction projects, I have never seen a project this size where the EOR (Engineer of Record) was not required to provide on-site construction inspections to verify that the project is being constructed to the plans and specifications for the project. In many states it is required by law. A few inspections by a competent engineer would have caught these issues when they were happening – not after the fact.
Please don’t give me any crap about the owner (the city) not paying the designers for this service. The law requires you to do these inspections. Additionally, you should probably do them to protect yourself from the lawsuits you will soon be facing. Ain’t that professional licensing a bitch?
HayRide says
Are you out of your mind, pave it over and forget someone ever had the idea to make a splash pad for diaper wearing patrons. Just the simple fact of public bathing, your asking for trouble!
protonbeam says
Ok folks your Deputy City Manager and former park Director, Lauren Johnston, oversaw this project as parks director. Why isn’t she running the fix effort or making a statement? Why does the City promote incompetence and then hide. Zero capability and zero focus on the public interest. Palm Coast has become a City full of employees serving themselves with no consequences or account.
RAW says
I agree with Jack Howell. This thing was a bad idea from the get go. It never has worked, is not working now and will never work. Get rid of this “White Elephant!” Do what Jack Howell said, it is not complicated.
Shark says
Send the bill to Melissa Holland and the rest of the circus act that was in charge. Why should the taxpayers foot the bill for incompetence !!!!
Skibum says
There are many, many well-built and long-lasting splash pads across the entire country, so don’t confuse what the contractors negligently built at Holland Park as the norm. Once again, you get what you pay for. Governments that always take the lowest bidder on any job cannot expect to get the best product. Why do you think the now extinct, terrible Yugo is no longer on the road? When you have a poorly designed and built car, or building, or splash pad, you are just asking for problems! Had the city sought out and gone with a very experienced, competent contractor despite a higher cost, just look at all the money the city would have saved by not having this debacle they are dealing with now that will cost city taxpayers a LOT of money fixing the multiple problems and trying, maybe successfully but maybe not, to win some monetary judgement from the contractors down the road in civil litigation. While I believe in trying to save the taxpayers some money when bidding out projects, it has been proven over and over and over again that there are more important considerations than just how much a contractor is willing to bid to build something. I hope this has been a learning experience for the city. Everyone makes mistakes, but a mistake made more than once, as we have all heard before, is not a mistake but a decision. We need much better decisions from our city officials!
Andy Buckel says
When I was a kid the city park had a concrete pad that gently sloped to a 12 inch pipe sticking straight up with a sprinkler head at top. We were happy with clams running through the showering water. Even today the whole project would be about $50,000. :
costing even less that the report on the splash pad. Who wanted and approved this million dollar boondoggle? I don’t think it was the people of Palm Coast. I ask, wouldn’t it be a good idea to put any non essential project, that does not effect public safety, to a public referendum. The council is way too free to part with our money for their own ideas regarding Palm Coast and its “Vision”.
hjc says
Was the building and engineering departments involved in the inspection process on this project?
Celia Pugliese says
I first agree with Jack Howell our former city councilman as I attended the meetings where he vehemently opposed the millions of our taxes for the splash pad detailing the horror stories of failure in Jacksonville and other cities were he served. But Mayor and council anyway proceeded with an amenity that given the high cost of maintenance belongs only in paid admissions like Disneyland or other water parks. We should have first resolve all the other priorities needing funding in Palm Coast and if when ,monies left over build a splash park then. I totally agree with Jack that parent are also to watch their kids and or pets while enjoying our beaches. Do not lash at the man for warning us first and then and telling us what it is today. He is right NO MORE SUGAR COATING!
Second I agree with Protonbeam with some departmental heads failing us all. When it comes to Laureen Johnston not sure she was there as Parks and Recreations Director when the splash park was pushed by mayor and council responsible for it, as I saw attending those meetings! I do not blame her as commands came from above and what was she to do, say NO to her superiors? she is not an engineer, that belongs in Carl Cote Engineering, Dept.(what did he do about it?) . Some departmental heads (Planning, Community Development and IT Dept.) bear the responsibility of presenting projects for mayor and council approval (with maybe some of them also pushing like the splash pad before), projects that are so costly to our hard earned tax funds and/or undermine our quality of life, health and the value of our homes like now the 150ftb tall, 5G cell tower 160 to 300 ft from our homes in #7 Clubhouse Drive, is unthinkable but a reality that forces us to spend in costly legal team to oppose, simply because they plan to make an “special exception to our residential zoning” thru the rubber stamp Planning Board, to erect it!. If the cell phones death reception zones of Gran Haven, Palm Coast Plantation and the other gated communities along Colbert Lane need a tower, then I ask specially Councilman Klufas that they install it instead there in one of the many wooded vacant lands including in Graham Swamp away from homes not next to ours in #7 Clubhouse Drive 160 from our homes. Our cell phones work well for in our homes. The Health effects on residents already dooming towers: https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/central_berkshires/cease-and-desist-pittsfield-board-of-health-gives-verizon-ultimatum-over-cell-tower/article_ae03b92c-845f-11ec-87d2-cb79809c6f43.html
We need to have departmental heads in our city that no longer give in to developers or contractors pressures over greed, versus contemplating on “no more special exceptions” to the zoning where we bought our homes!
Deedee says
If it was up to all you old farts the children of palm coast would have know were to go and have fun. When you have a toddler it is hard to take them to a beach or a pool it was nice to have a place for the children to be able to run and stay cool in the summer. I for one hope they fix it and reopen it so my grandchildren can have a place to go and have some fun. we have enough stuff for you older people to go do who needs a pickle bord court palm coast is not a retirement community we do have a lot of children.