Page 2/The Sun and News, Saturday, September 17, 2022DPW portable water tank damaged in crash
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
A Caledonia village
Department of Public Works
portable water tank was
damaged in a hit-and-run
crash on Sept. 9.
DPW employee McKenzieCorson escaped injury in the
crash just before 7:30 a.m.
near the entrance of the Glen
Valley Estates subdivision,
Village Manager Jeff
Thornton said.
Corson was driving the
DPW’s mini dump truck,
which was pulling the porta-
ble water tank – nicknamed
“the Bee” for its black and
gold color scheme. When she
went to turn left from M-37/
Cherry Valley Avenue onto
Glengarry Drive, the tank
was struck, Thornton said.“Per (Michigan State
Police, which responded to
the scene), it looked as if
someone turning left from
Glengarry onto northbound
Cherry Valley may have
been hindered by the sun and
saw the truck turn but then
pulled out and hit the trailer
that was being towed,”
Thornton wrote in an email
to the Sun and News.
The vehicle that struck the
tank appeared to be red in
color, Thornton told the
Village Council Monday.“There’s probably a lot of
front end damage to (the car
that hit the tank),” he said.
The tank ended up on its
side on the curb after impact.
Thornton is working with the
village’s insurance carrier on
getting a replacement tank as
quickly as possible.“Our community and the
surrounding people visiting
Caledonia have become
accustomed to our beautiful
flower displays downtown,
and that is how we water
those displays, with the use
of a portable tanker,” he
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Downtown MiddlevilleVillage of Caledonia planners green light splash pad
as crews already break ground
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Construction crews didn’t
wait long to break ground on
the new splash pad at the
Community Green park in
Caledonia this week.
However, one final action
needed to be taken care of
beforehand.
The Village of Caledonia
Planning Commission voted
3-2 at a special meeting
Tuesday night to authorize
the project to proceed. The
action was needed because,
even though Community
Green is owned by Caledonia
Township, it is located with-
in the village limits of
Caledonia.
The planners’ approval
came less than a week after
the township board approved
awarding the bid for the
splash pad construction to
Holland-based EV
Construction. The township
has set a budget of more than
$389,000, factoring in EV’s
bid and a 10 percent contin-
gency.
Township Treasurer/
Administrator Richard
Robertson apologized for the
short notice, noting there was
an unexpected opportunity to
get the project done by this
winter and have it ready for
use by the time warm weath-
er returns next year.
“We had thought we
would be putting this off
until next year (because of
the current bidding environ-
ment), but nevertheless we
went out for bids on the
splash pad element here a
few weeks ago, and to our
surprise, we had bids from
people who were willing to
start right away, like this
week,” Robertson told com-
missioners.
The splash pad will be
built on the west edge of
Community Green, almost
directly across from the
entrance of the Kent District
Library Caledonia branch.
The splash pad was one of
the top three features resi-
dents asked for in community
input sessions when the park
was being planned, along
with pickleball courts and a
dog park, Robertson said. The
water feature was originally
to be built next to the original
pickleball courts, but cost
concerns put the project on
hold for several years.
“In the interim period, we
had so much demand fromthe pickleball community,
and we thought that, that
place would be the best place
to have additional courts
rather than to try to locate
them somewhere else,”
Robertson said.
“It was never intended that
we would do away with the
splash pad, but only that we
would find another place for
it,” he added.
Several concerns were
raised by commissioners
about the location of the
splash pad. Chairwoman Pro
Tem Sylvia Murphy, who
presided over the meeting,
was concerned that the prox-
imity of the splash pad to the
library might lead to users
taking up parking spaces that
would normally be used for
the library.
But Robertson said he
didn’t think the parking situ-ation would be much differ-
ent than if it had been at its
originally proposed location.
“I think we all have to
agree that parking around the
Community Green is a chal-
lenge. We knew that from
the beginning,” he said.
“However, if you think of
where the Community Green
is, it’s surrounded by parking
... We have parking at the
dog park, we have parking
there at the pickleball courts,
we have parking at the
library.”
Robertson and Township
Engineer Todd Boerman met
with library officials earlier
on Tuesday to discuss the
project.
Commissioner Gayle Ott
was concerned about poten-
tial slip-and-fall accidents.
“You’re going to have
kids going in there with wetfeet ... and some older per-
son is going to go in later and
(wipe out) on the water from
the kids going in and out,”
Ott said.
Murphy also expressed
worries about the splash
pad’s aesthetics.
“It’s a very conspicuous,
very busy intersection,” she
said.
Robertson said there will
be no permanent above-the-
ground features, such as
overhead buckets, associated
with the splash pad.
“When not in use, it will
look like a patio,” he said.
Commissioner Kim Peters
drew comparisons between
the splash pad and a similar
project in Zeeland where a
splash pad was built down-
town.
“It actually, I think, helped
spur them doing things likesocial district kinds of things
that brought people to that
area,” Peters said. “I think if
our demographics are chang-
ing in the community, I think
it’s fabulous. I think it’s a
great add. I think it’ll bring
people to the community.”
Commissioner Amanda
Crozier said she would take
her kids to go to the splash
pad and the library as part of
a single trip.
“I see myself telling my
children that. Let’s go pick
out some books, put them in
the car, and then we’ll go
play in the splash pad,”
Crozier said.
Peters, Crozier and
Gerrianne Schuler voted for
approval, while Murphy and
Ott voted no. Commission
Chairman Chad Chambers
and Commissioner Bill
Robertson were absent.Construction vehicles get ready to break ground on the splash pad addition to
Caledonia’s Community Green park. (Photo by Greg Chandler)Caledonia Township Treasurer/Administrator
Richard Robertson outlines plans for the Community
Green splash pad to the Caledonia Village Planning
Commission at Tuesday’s special meeting. (Photo by
Greg Chandler)Caledonia village Department of Public Works
employee McKenzie Corson escaped injury Sept. 9
when the portable water tank, dubbed “The Bee,”
was struck by a hit-and-run driver near the entrance
of the Glen Valley Estates subdivision. The tank,
which was being pulled by DPW’s mini dump truck,
ended up on its side from the impact. (Photo courtesy
Village of Caledonia)