(ANOKA) – Anoka County Commissioners this week approved plans to make major improvements at Bunker Beach water park, the busiest of its kind in the state but which has been shuttered for the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown.
The county will spend upwards of $6.5 million to install improvements to the wave pool at the attraction, among other projects at the site which by the first week of June would be crawling with sunbathers and swimmers. $5.5 of that will come from bonds, which the board approved at its Tuesday meeting with a 5-2 vote.
“Right now, I think cash is king,” said District 1 Commissioner Matt Look. “So, you want to make sure you keep your cash while you can still, while still responsibly working on the assets we have while the economy is this way. So, that being the case, we just have more options how to make the best decision possible.”
District 3 Commissioner Robyn West voted against approving the bonding program and did not want the county to spend that much money on a project like this at this uncertain time.
“Due to the COVID situation, I had already felt we would be remiss in not going back to the vendors and postponing the projects,” West said. “So I still feel that way, and I know that it’s a done deal and I can’t support this for that reason.”
In April the board voted to keep Bunker Beach closed after worries about a partial season and the number of visitors allowed in under any sort of revised stay at home orders.
