I request that this letter be read into the official record for the City of Olean Common Council being held on January 10, 2023.

Since July 2022, I have reached out several times to each council member and the Mayor regarding my concerns with the plans, or as I found a lack of plans for the City of Olean, to build a splash park at War Vets. Unfortunately, I still have no answers. 

The City of Olean taxpayers deserves to know the facts. Since very little has been shared with the public, here are some of the facts:

·         Our common council authorized the Mayor to sign a voucher for over $800,000 in splash park parts (not including installation) for this project.  This purchase was done with no budget, bid process, input from the current DPW Director or Director of Community Development, and no input from the community.

·         The City of Olean used over $225,000 of taxpayer monies to refurbish the Big pool in 2017. The Common Council members discussed filling that pool with concrete to put in the splash park. Filling in the pool with concrete will cost at least $60,000 from taxpayers, which is also not budgeted. If the City goes ahead with its plan to fill in the outdoor pool at the Center, that will eliminate the area’s only outdoor pool and rob hundreds of children and adults of the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and the pool. While the City is referencing a lack of use of the pool in recent years, it is important to note that the pool has only been open for two years in the past five years. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the community’s comfort with participating in activities in public. I feel the data referencing the use of the pool is skewed, and a decision to fill in an asset that has been in our community for several years is a grave miscalculation.  

·         If the City of Olean moves forward, our small community will have two splash parks. The Olean YMCA is creating the new Erick Laine Outdoor Center, which will expand the footprint of the Y property on Wayne Street. This project will consist of five outdoor venues: an airnasium, splash park that transforms into a winter play park, playground, fire pit area, welcome Center, and bathhouse. The Center will be open to the community and will not require a YMCA membership. Day pass fees, seasonal passes, and YMCA membership will support the day-to-day operations. With the YMCA building its splash pad facility, the City’s would be redundant.  

·         The city splash park is not a grant-funded project. The APRA funds (which are supposed to be used for COVID-19 relief) are only contributing $500,000, and the rest will come from the taxpayers.

·         I have submitted several Freedom of  Information law requests to the City and found the City does not have a complete budget or a revenue budget for the splash park, but somehow, they know the predictive profits. Mr. Crawford predicts $75,000 of revenue per year will come from the splash park to pay the bond.  

·         It was said that there will be a 1 million dollar bond with a cost of approximately $80,000 due per year for the next 15 years. If the park does not come through with that revenue, we, the taxpayers, will be paying that $80,000 per year for the next 15 years. 

The 360 people who signed my petition agree that The City of Olean needs to halt the plans to build a splash park at War Vets and send back the splash park equipment they purchased should be heard and responded to. If the City of Olean continues to move forward and spends more money on this project, it would be a mistake, and the City of Olean taxpayers will have to pay for years to come. 

Donna Kahm
Virginia St., Olean