WILLMAR -- The Willmar School Board has not given approval yet to a plan proposed by the city of Willmar to develop a storm water detention pond at Garfield Park in southwest Willmar.
The board tabled action on the proposal at its meeting Monday evening. It will come up again at the board's March 10 meeting.
Board members said they want more information about the proposal and about an agreement that the park land would be given to the city if the school is ever closed.
Board member Dion Warne wanted to give the public a chance to weigh in before taking a final vote. "People were not expecting us to make a decision tonight," he said.
None of the current board members was serving in the early 1990s when the land agreement with the city was signed. They hadn't heard about it before City Administrator Michael Schmit told them about it Monday night.
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The city hopes installing a 24-inch pipe from nearby storm sewer lines will divert water temporarily into the park and reduce flooding problems at 10th Street and Kandiyohi Avenue Southwest nearby. The project is estimated to cost about $108,000, Schmit said.
Schmit said the park would still have a ball field, and it would have an ice skating rink in the winter. Excavation, pipes and drain tiles would make the area at the south end of the park "the new lowest point in the neighborhood," he said.
Engineers have told him that storm water diverted to the park would drain in less than a day, Schmit said.
Board member Dion Warne said he was worried about the district's ability to sell the land someday if the district closes the school, but Schmit said the land would be signed over to the city if it's not used for educational purposes. The agreement is part of the transaction when the city provided land for Willmar Senior High, which opened in 1994.
Board Chairman Mike Carlson wanted to know more about how fast the park would drain. He said he'd heard it compared to Vos Park, but it can take days for storm water to drain from that park's storm water detention area.
Fernando Alvarado, who lives across the street from Garfield Park, spoke to the board and suggested that more information is needed before the plan is approved. He asked the board to look at more information on drain tile, the size of pipes and how it might affect the nearby residential area.
Neighbors are not in favor of the plan, Alvarado said. "We like the green space as it is currently."
