VIDEO: Splash Pad Fun and Safety

STARKVILLE, Miss.(WCBI)–There’s just something about kids and water.

Most of them love it. Splashing. Playing. Swimming.

Some parents look at splash pads as a good neighborhood alternative to beaches, lakes, or pools but where there are kids, there are germs.

Meet Nina Ferguson.

“We are here to let them get cool,”said grandparent Nina Ferguson.

She and her grandkids visit Starkville’s J.L. King Park Splash Pad a few times a week.

“There’s nothing much for them to do here. I bring them out about once or twice a week and let them cool off and play,”said Ferguson.

Shalamark Simpson runs maintenance on the splash pad. He says keeping it safe for the community is a year round job.

“It’s going in and making sure that all of the pipes for the winter are taken care of appropriately and properly. Once we do that, we are able to shut it down so the pipes and stuff will not bust during the winter so we won’t have any major issues. When the season starts back up, we just make sure all of our pumps and all of our water system is running appropriately and correctly. It’s pretty much easy maintenance,” Starkville Parks and Recreation Facility Maintenance Supervisor Shalamark Simpson.

If you want to bring your family, you should know this.

Most public splash pads aren’t monitored around the clock, nor do they have a life guard on duty.

Simpson says the recreation department makes frequent visits but they also rely on the public as an extra set of eyes and ears.

“Well, the citizens in the community, they are pretty much up to par. They make sure that things are safe and parents are here all the time. They pretty much police the area. They help us do our job and make life very easy for us,”said Simpson.

If you see a problem, just call.

The numbers to contact the Rec department are posted on signs throughout the Splash Pad Park.

” The director, Herman Peters, will take that call then he will, give the information to Trent Helms, Trent Helms who is the maintenance director, he would contact me and that’s how we would take care of an issue like that. We would look into getting the individuals that we need to rectify the situation,”said Simpson.

Ferguson says calling is just what she will do.

“If I saw a problem, something that endangers the kids or something, I would call park and recreation.

Simpson says in the event of an issue occurring the recreation department will immediately address it and actively work toward fixing the problem.

Categories: Local News

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