Port Royal’s getting $400K splash pad. Approval follows ‘interrogation’ of mayor
An agreement between Beaufort County and Port Royal that will allow a $400,000 splash pad to be constructed at Bruce Edgerley Field in Port Royal has been approved by the Beaufort County Council in a 9-1 vote.
The vote came after an “interrogation” of the town’s top elected official from one council member about whether Port Royal was compliant in their use of federal COVID-19 funds for a splash pad in a county-run park.
Port Royal officials dismissed that concern as a “non issue” and said the splash pad would bring needed recreation to northern Beaufort County.
“It’s an exciting opportunity to work closely together to provide opportunities for children to enjoy,” Port Royal Town Manager Van Willis said Thursday of the county-town partnership on the splash pad development.
But before the vote Monday on the agreement between the town and county to join forces on building and maintaining the splash pad, Paula Brown, a District 8 council member from Bluffton, questioned the town’s compliance with rules set forth by the United States Treasury Department, the entity that manages American Rescue Plan Act funds from distribution to enforcement.
Mayor questioned
ARPA funds, approved in 2021, were issued to governments to provide relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Port Royal’s allocation was $1 million, which it is using on six projects including $290,000 for the $400,000 splash pad project. The remaining balance on the water feature will be covered by the town.
The National Association of Counties states that by Dec. 31, 2024, all funds must have been obligated, meaning they were committed through “contracts, subawards, interagency agreements, or similar transactions.”
“Did you inform the United States Treasury Department that this splash pad was going to be donated with the county of Beaufort? Yes or no?” Brown asked Port Royal’s Mayor Kevin Phillips.
The agreement between the county and the town says Port Royal will fund and construct the splash pad and donate it to Beaufort County, which will be responsible for $30,000 in yearly maintenance. The town’s cost is expected to be about $400,000, including the $290,000 in ARPA funds. That cost includes the equipment and in addition to related site work and engineering and planning costs, Willis said.
Phillips did not directly answer Brown’s question, but asserted that the town was in compliance with the rules.
“Our attorneys looked at this upside, inside and out,” added Willis, the town manager, in an interview Thursday.
Brown continued to question Phillips, finalizing her thoughts: “Everyone up here needs to vote no. It is putting our county at risk for a splash pad because we don’t have a document that says you told the treasury that you were going to donate the splash pad, and furthermore, you don’t have an intergovernmental agreement signed by 12/31/24.”
Logan Cunningham, a District 9 representative from Bluffton, took issue with Brown’s line of questioning.
“I didn’t realize we were going to turn this into an interrogation,” Cunningham said. “I do apologize on behalf of the rest of county council for you taking your time out and being interrogated today.”
What are splash pads?
Splash pads, also known as spraygrounds, are water play areas with interactive water features or fountains for play. They usually have water spraying upward and involve no standing water.
In 2023, the Beaufort County announced plans to add a 2,200-square-foot $655,000 plash pad at Oscar Frazier Park in Bluffton. The Port Royal splash pad will be the first in northern Beaufort County.
Splash pad coming soon
The town was waiting on the approval of the intergovernmental agreement with Beaufort County before moving ahead with the splash pad, Willis said. He expects it to be constructed within the next three to four months. Bluffton-based Year Round Pool Inc. is the contractor. The town is working on a site plan and engineering logistics at this time and he expects work to begin in the next three to four months.
The town, he said, was approached by the county about its interest in a splash pad and Town Council members thought it was a great idea.
Splash pads are increasingly popular because they provide aquatic entertainment for all ages and abilities and come with fewer operation and maintenance requirements and costs than a traditional pool, according to the National Recreation and Parks Association.
The addition of the splash pad is a logical followup to the $800,000 in playground equipment that Beaufort County installed at the park in 2023, town officials said previously.
The purchase and installation of that equipment was done without the county council’s approval, which was misaligned with the county’s procurement rules, according to previous Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reporting. It was one of several incidents that caused a state grand jury to open an investigation into the county’s purchasing and procurement.
