By Mindy Ragan Wood, Staff Writer – Piedmont Community Park organizers announced during the Monday night city council meeting that the long-awaited attraction will be open Saturday afternoon.
Council members voted unanimously to take over the park after they discussed it in executive session. Al Gliechman was not present.
“Ya’ll have worked your tails off, congratulations,” Mayor Valorie Thomerson said to the park organizers at the back of the room. “It’s been a long road for all of us. You did a good job and you got through a couple of hiccups.”
The soft opening comes after legal wrangling in a federal lawsuit. Texas-based contractors SEE Spray sued the Piedmont Park Project after they claimed they did not receive full payment for installing park features at the splash pad. Park project organizers accused the contractors of shoddy work. The plaintiffs filed their petition in Texas federal court, but a judge dismissed it on jurisdictional grounds. SEE Spray maintains they still have not been paid $170,000 and are considering the possibility of refiling the lawsuit in Oklahoma.
The city contributed $150,000 to the project and had been expected to assume ownership of the park after it was completed.
Piedmont Park Project organizer Eric Anderson said the park was “good to go” but did not know if the park had been inspected for safety. Park board chairman Paul Francel refused to answer questions after the meeting.
City Manager Jason Orr said the city’s insurance provider, the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group (OMAG), inspected the park the first week of March.
“It passed with flying colors,” Orr said.
When asked if the city faced any legal liability if the plaintiffs refile their lawsuit, city attorney Mike Segler said, “I don’t like to speculate. I don’t know what they’re going to file. They tried to file liens on the property but there are no liens on the property.”
The Piedmont Park Project collected $250,000 in pledges and grants and $360,000 in cash donations.
