Next summer will be a wet one at Rock Creek Park.

Dawson County commissioners unanimously approved installing a splash pad at Rock Creek Park at its voting session Thursday, Nov. 7.

The pad is being donated to the county by the Dawson County Rotary Club.

The cost to the Rotary Club is $36,393. It is the largest community service project in the clubs history.

The splash pad will feature a 41-foot non-slippery surface, 21 sprinkler heads, and several benches surrounding the Rotary Clubs gold and blue emblem. The pad will sprinkle 12.5 gallons of fresh water per minute, using a kid-activated button so that water is not wasted. It will also use a minimal amount of electricity.

The pad is scheduled to be ready by spring of 2014. It will have the same operating schedule as the pool in Veterans Park, Memorial Day through Labor day.

Were really excited they approved it, Dawson Countys Rotary President Vernon Smith said.

Smith said the Rock Creek location will be a good fit for the county. Theres no water feature at Rock Creek, he said. Having it in that area will work really good.

The cost to the county will be an additional $350 per year for insurance and roughly $105 a year for electricity, Parks and Rec Director Lisa Henson told the commissioners during a work session Oct. 24.

Etowah Water and Sewer Authority is providing $5,000 worth of water each year to the splash pad, an amount estimated to cover the cost of water.

We want to thank Etowah Water and Sewer for their contribution of water, said Smith, who also thanked the county and Henson with the Parks department.

According to Smith, the splash pad is an unusual project to Rotary. This is the first one like it across the nation.

For more information about the Rotary Club, you may visit www.RotaryDawsonCounty.org. The club meets Thursday mornings at 7:30 at the Lakeview Center.

Also at the meeting, the commissioners proclaimed Nov. 22-28 as Farm City Week. Tammy Wood of Dawson County presented the proclamation to the board, and it was signed by Chair Mike Berg. Farm City Week is to recognize the cooperative network of Georgia farmers and ranchers for playing a key role in providing food, clothing, shelter and fuel to our state, nation and the world by producing a bounty of agricultural products.

Commissioners also voted:

To reject all bids for patrol cars. The county will advertise a new bid for only Dodge Chargers.

To reject all bids for contractors of the Carlisle Road project. County Manager Cindy Campbell said all bids received were over budget. The county will send out a bid with new specifications. Campbell said the county would see what portions of the project could be done in-house.

To name County Clerk Danielle Yarbrough as the countys open records officer. All requests for open records will be sent to Yarbrough, commissioners said.