Visitors to Atwood Water Park in Monticello will soon be able torent “cabins” for overnight stays.

Mayor David Nichols informed the board Tuesday that whileattending an auction to purchase other needed equipment, hestumbled across a number of Federal Emergency Management Agencyused surplus travel trailers available at a much-reduced price.After consulting with a majority of board members by telephone toreceive authorization, the mayor purchased six of the trailers at acost of $2,300 each.

The six trailers will be permanently placed in the park asrentable “cabins,” Nichols said. Five of the trailers can sleep upto six or eight people while one sleeps a maximum of four.

Four trailers will be located in a wooded area deep in the park,one will be located behind the gatehouse and one behind the oldrestrooms, he said.

Those areas were chosen, Nichols said, because they could tieinto existing septic tanks, which would prevent waste from havingto be dumped after each rental.

Nichols proposed the board set a rent of $40 a night in non-peakperiods and a $60 rent during peak periods with a two-night minimumand seven-night maximum. A $75 refundable deposit would also berequired.

After considerable discussion on determining peak and non-peakperiods, however, the board approved a flat $60 rent withoutadditional changes.

The board also stressed that the cabin rents would notautomatically include entry into special events at the park, suchas May’s Atwood Music Festival. Event tickets will have to bepurchased separately.

In other matters, the board approved a request from LawrenceCounty High School to install up to four speed bumps on Smith Laneto slow traffic passing the school and between the baseball andfootball fields.

“It’s a minor miracle that a kid hasn’t been killed there,” saidWard Five Alderman Craig Davis.

A speed bump will be placed on each side of the intersectionwith Cougar Lane with a third between the ball fields. The boarddid not determine Tuesday whether a fourth speed bump would benecessary.

Ward Four Alderman Kevin Garrett suggested the board considerusing speed bumps that could be passed over a significantly reducedspeed, such as 5 or 10 miles per hour, rather than ones thatrequired nearly a full stop before crossing.

“I don’t think we need to make people stop. We just want them tocrawl through there,” he said.

The board agreed and tasked Nichols with determining the type ofspeed bumps that would be installed.

The board only briefly discussed a city hall landscapingproject. Members thanked the Riverside Garden Club for its effortsin landscaping the grounds last week, but tabled a discussion on anirrigation system and new sign and flagpole.

“We did not come in under budget,” Nichols said, citing otherwork done earlier in the year.

Ward Two Alderman Steve Moreman had said earlier this week thatthe project was under budget and he hoped to use the remainingfunds to add an irrigation system to the grounds.