By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
A crew from PV Paving and Concrete, the Smethport, Pa., company that built the splash pad in War Veterans Park, has broken up much of the concrete surrounding the colorful features on the pad.
A tractor was at the site Wednesday loading slabs of broken concrete into a dump truck.
Due to a lack of pitch in the concrete pad, the water would not properly drain so it could be treated and recycled.
The city has rejected the concrete work and negotiated with PV Paving and Concrete and the engineering firm CPL for corrective work to be completed by next month.
Work on the project began two years ago and was to have been completed in time for the 2025 summer season. City officials said for much of the summer that a missing part was preventing the splash pad from opening this year.
It was not until August that the extent of the problem that delayed the opening became apparent.
Mayor Amy B. Sherburne negotiated a memorandum of understanding to correct the deficiencies, which the Common Council approved. The company now has until Nov. 30 to complete the project.
The alternative was to declare the splash pad project in default and proceed with a lawsuit against the contractor and engineering company.
The city used $800,000 in leftover Covid funds to buy the equipment for the splash pad in 2022.
Two years later, PV Paving and Concrete submitted the low bid of $495,540 to build the splash pad, which was approved in May 2024. The other bid was for $2.6 million. The splash pad was to open in 2025.
The splash pad is adjacent to the city swimming pool that sits awaiting up to $1.7 million in repairs. The pool has been closed for three years after the Cattaraugus County Health Department flagged its failing sand filter system.
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