MORGAN -- Morgan City may be the next Northern Utah city to join the splash pad craze.
"We need to do something to breathe additional life into town," City Councilman DeOrr Peterson said.
The project proposed for installation at Riverside Park near Morgan High School would benefit all county residents, especially the youth. Councilwoman Shelly Betz estimated the splash pad would serve between 2,300 and 2,500 children under the age of 14 in Morgan County.
The splash pad is just one element among planned improvements at Riverside Park. In the next year, city officials would like to see new playground equipment, new sidewalks and upgraded bathroom facilities. The items have officially been placed on capital investment and improvement plans, enabling government officials to seek funding through grants.
City officials have already started looking at designs and put a price tag of $250,000 on plans for the splash pad and park renovations. At a recent meeting, the city council unanimously authorized spending $5,000 to draw up preliminary engineering plans.
"(Those offering grants) like to see this is a future plan and not just an off-the-cuff idea," Betz said.
City, county and school district representatives on the Morgan County Council of Governments will rank the splash pad plans among other projects to determine funding priority before seeking grants.
In the meantime, several residents have expressed interest in raising funds themselves for the splash pad installation.
"The excitement and community response has been very favorable," Betz said. "They really are very committed to this, and their fundraising ideas are abundant."
"The involvement of the community has been great," Councilman Tony London said.
Other items on the city's capital investment plan include a Davis Applied Technology Center entrepreneurial center, industrial park planning and development, new hotel, building improvements on Commercial Street, and sewer improvements and upgrades.
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