Tony Vannello, the Parma Service Director, explained that the new pump system will be smaller and more efficient and will include an additional, smaller pump that can be utilized during periods when the system requires less pressure. Recreation Director Mickey Villardi remarked:
“Our personnel have been Band-Aiding things as best as we could for the last number of years, but it’s gotten to the point now where it’s too much of a risk to let it go much further. When you lose a green or you lose fairways, you lose play. That’s all revenue, so it’s very important to replace those things.”
Recreational opportunities are important to a city’s economic health; facilities offering these opportunities often invest with brochure printing services to advertise to locals.
According to Vannello, matters came to a head when the golf course’s 30-year-old computer, which runs the irrigation system, went down as a result of the extreme heat.
The $135,370 for the replacement pumping system was from recently awarded funds from the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC). Unfortunately, updating the system will not be finished until the next golf season. The delay is due to the system not being available for shipping for at least 14 to 16 weeks.