The Waterloo Park Board met Thursday for its regular monthly meeting, where commissioners said goodbye to longtime attorney Mary Buettner, discussed a range of typical park matters and announced pending news concerning the long-awaited splash pad project.

In the middle of the meeting, Michael Nolte – one of two park district commissioners currently overseeing the development of a splash pad off Rogers Street – said a number of meetings with design firms and concerned parties in the community had been taking place.

While explaining he had little further news to discuss at the meeting, Nolte noted that further action is expected before next month’s meeting on Sept. 13, adding that the splash pad design might be returning to its original concept.

“We are looking to call a special meeting prior to the next regular park district meeting where we’ll have further details,” Nolte said. “It’s looking like we are not going to be modifying the original plan. We’ve got a possible solution to have a splash pad of the original size, and we are looking to be able to gather the funds to construct and have it constructed before June of next year.”

The original design for the splash pad, as previously reported, was set to cost roughly $1.8 million in total.

Late last year and early this year, much discussion took place regarding how the park district would acquire the additional funds necessary to complete the project alongside the district’s own budget and a $400,000 Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

A return to the original plans is noteworthy given that the most recent park board meetings have involved talks of significantly reducing the size of the splash pad as the cost, bather load and various other features of the original design were seemingly excessive.

The board said goodbye to Buettner at the meeting. She had long served as the park district’s attorney and board secretary.

It was approved that former state senator Paul Schimpf of Waterloo would replace her starting in September.

In his monthly report, Waterloo Park District Superintendent Don Prater noted that insurance assessments for buildings damaged in recent storms are currently in progress.

Prater also spoke about the bathrooms at the Koenigsmark Park skate park, which have experienced vandalism with toilets clogged with trash and toilet paper dispensers removed from the wall.

The board voted to close the bathroom for the moment, replacing the facilities with a portable toilet while they discuss a more permanent solution.

At the start of the meeting, the board heard an auditors report, with Waterloo Park Board Commissioner Shelby Mathes commending Waterloo Park District Treasurer Julie Bradley for her work overseeing park district funds.