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Summer is coming, and the splash pad isn’t ready. The problem was brought to the attention of the Magee Board of Aldermen during their meeting on March 5, 2019.
Cost of repairs to the pad will be $3,900 because the work is no longer under warranty, a fact which has been discussed at length on Facebook because last week’s edition of the Magee Courier and Simpson County News reported that when contacted by the city about problems at the splash pad, which Shivers Construction installed, the company was “not willing to stand behind the job.”
Publisher Pat Brown also reported that Shivers Constructions warrants their work for one year and that the water feature failed after only 14 or 15 months.
The splash pad, however, opened June 8, 2017 and had been in use for almost two full seasons when it was closed early last summer because the circuit board went out, which was covered under warranty and has been repaired. *The city did have to pay for labor to repair the circuit board. (*Added 3/19/2018)
Allison Shivers of Shivers Construction said in a Facebook comment that the job was signed off on two and a half years ago.
During the meeting of the Board of Aldermen, in which the issue was discussed, the problem was attributed to “ground movement,” which is considered an act of nature and not covered under insurance.
City Attorney Bruce Smith informed the board that most construction jobs only come with a one-year warranty. No one in the meeting said Shivers Construction is at fault.
The total cost for the splash pad and pavilion was around $270,000, $50,000 of which was funded through a grant from thePeal River Basin Development District. (*Correction 3/18/2918: MageeNews.com originally said the grant was for $50,000. *Correction 3/19/2019: We originally stated the grant came from the Pearl River Water Basin. The grant was for $50,000 as we originally reported. The confusion arose because it was a matching grant.)
Strict guidelines were placed on the construction of the pad, and one of the major costs was the fact the pad has a chlorinator which recycles the water to keep it clean and safe.
The current problem is caused by the fact the ground has shifted a half an inch or less but enough to cause pipes to break. Without repairs, it is useless.
“It’s no good if it’s not working,” Mayor Berry said during the board meeting.
According to Alderman Whitney Baker, the board has already budgeted money to make additions to the splash pad this year so some of that money can be used to make the repairs.
Shivers wrote on Facebook that she has been told that though Mayor Berry did not make the statement that Shivers Construction did not stand behind their work during the board meeting, he expressed that sentiment in a private meeting the next day. (*Addition: MageeNews.com has been informed from a source present that the meeting was not “private,” just a follow-up interview.)
Berry, however, told MageeNews.com that he never said Shivers did not stand behind their work.
You can watch the discussion of the splash pad at the Board of Aldermen meeting below:
