The Rotary Club of Concord’s plans to develop a park on county-owned property at the corner of Union and Corban streets in Downtown Concord received a formal approval from Cabarrus County commissioners last week, following concerns about liability and months of discussion.
Commissioners voted 5-0 in favor of the plans for Rotary Park to a round of applause from Rotary members in the audience at their meeting Tuesday. The Rotary Club of Concord has been going to Cabarrus County commissioners and the Concord City Council seeking support for the proposed park, which would have space for a farmers market and a splash-pad style fountain that children and adults could walk through on hot days.
The park has been a source of discussion from both government bodies for several months as they worked out who would handle trash pickup, water and electricity costs and liability issues at the site. Concord will handle utilities. Cabarrus County will take care of trash pickup.
Commissioner Chairman Liz Poole said during a work session earlier this month that she was concerned about increased liability to the county because of the fountain feature.
Commissioner Bob Carruth said he didn’t think it would be a problem.
“In the grand scheme of things, when you look at the other things that we have - a swimming pool, numerous lakes - I just don’t myself see this as that big of an issue,” Carruth said. “The fountain is not going to propel water at such a pressure that it will knock people down.”
Jonathan Marshall, deputy county manager, said the county staff checked with other communities with similar fountains to determine if they had problems with them. Chattanooga, Tenn., was one of the communities contacted.
“They did not have to increase their liability insurance,” Marshall said. “It was covered under the existing policy. They have not had any incidents in the year that they’ve had it.”
Commissioner Jay White said he fully supported the project.
“The same concerns that have been raised by this board go with each park that we have,” White said. “The difference is we don’t have a water feature spouting water up, but we do have a pond. I don’t want us to lose sight of the fact of what it does benefit. It benefits all of us.”
Commissioner Chris Measmer said he supported the park plans and was ready to vote in favor of the project.
“I’ve received more e-mails about this single issue than any other issue since I’ve been on this board,” he said. “There are no Cabarrus County dollars being used to build this. I think that’s important to note.”
The Rotary Club raised private funding to pay for the development of the site and asked that Concord and Cabarrus County maintain it after it is completed.
Contact reporter Karen Cimino Wilson: 704-789-9141.
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