The Lawton City Council had both old business and new on its docket Tuesday night, as it gathered for its bi-monthly meeting. First-up was the Lawton City Council's plans to give the ok for engineers to green light construction on a controversial, new splash pad to be built in Elmer Thomas Park.

Plans to approve the water park project hit a speed bump Tuesday, amid protest from several local groups who called the plan unnecessary in light of other concerns it felt needed to be address before a "luxury item" such as a splash pad could be approved. Officially, the item was pulled from consideration at Tuesday night’s meeting because the council had failed to properly send out bid requests for the project. After a proper bidding process, the city council will look to choose a construction company for the project.

City officials are still encouraged about the project, saying they are still hopeful they can still hit a proposed target date and open up the splash pad before the Freedom Fest in July. Several details could derail that plan, including the bidding process, weather during the construction period and the winning construction companies schedule.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Joshua Leach was introduced as Lawton's new Director of Neighborhood Services,. Leach, a Lawton native, recently retired from the Air Force. He replaces Tony Griffith who was reassigned to another department last year.

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