Staff photo by Fritz Busch After being closed for several days due to a water leak, the Sleepy Eye Family Aquatic Center lap pool reopened June 9. Sleepy Eye City Manager Bob Elston said the water park is functioning well now despite leaking a small amount of water.

SLEEPY EYE — After being closed for about 10 days after the rest of the Sleepy Eye Family Aquatic Center opened May 28, the lap pool and slide part of the facility opened June 9.

A water leak delayed fully opening the facility, Sleepy Eye City Manager Bob Elston told the Sleepy Eye City Council June 9.

“The (entire) water park opened last Tuesday and is functioning well,” Elston said Wednesday. “We are still losing a small amount of water but it is definitely manageable. We will look for the leak cause after we close at the end of the season. I wish I was convinced we fixed what was wrong, but at least, it’s operable.”

He said at the bottom of the deep end of the pool, there are two concrete boxes with lids that house filter suction lines that draws water out of the pool, through the filter and returns water on the side of the pool.

Elston said there are two spring-loaded valves at the bottom of the concrete boxes that are normally closed to relieve ground water pressure that builds up under the pool, usually in the winter when there is no water in the pool, to prevent it from pushing water pressure up from under the ground.

“When we filled the pool the first time, it leaked a few feet of water overnight,” he said. “We played with it a little, drained it, operated the valves, checked the springs and cleaned things as much as possible. We filled it again and it still leaked. We called a number of pool companies and didn’t get a return call. Finally, we drained it again, ordered two new valves and put them in. We’re still losing some water but we’re able to make it work.”

Elston said contact was made with a leak detection company that will come to the water park the day after it closes for the season (usually in late August, after schools open).

“We want to find out where else we may be losing water so we can open next year without that issue,” he said.

In his ash tree removal report, Elston said 150 trees were marked to be removed, 91 are gone and about two dozen were replanted.

“We’re doing the replanting ourselves. We will plant a tree for every one we take out,” said Elston. “We won’t put new trees in exactly the same place we removed them from, but will put new ones somewhere in the same area. We’ll get all the stumps out too. We have about 800 ash trees in the parks and boulevards. We only own the parks trees, not the boulevard trees, but our grant covers boulevard trees.”

He said costs will be shared 50-50 with the City of Sleepy Eye and property owners to remove hazardous boulevard trees not in the tree removal grant area. The program includes dead trees that could could fall or trees with branches that may fall down.

“People have to call us first about the trees first,” said Elston.