Discussion among the Waterloo Park District Board once again centered around continuing progress with the splash pad at William Zimmer Memorial Park, with the board also approving a now annual Girl Scouts day camp along with other minor matters.

A large chunk of splash pad discussion came about amid a presentation from Waterloo Director of Public Works Tim Birk, who has been assisting the park board by overseeing the project over the past few months.

Birk showed a collection of pictures from the past few weeks of work, pointing out various steps in the concrete pouring, plumbing and electrical components of the project.

He explained the actual splash pad had already been poured, and the adjacent building is similarly constructed.

Birk spoke positively about overall progress on the splash pad project, noting the weather over the past few months has helped the work run quickly and smoothly.

“Everything’s really gone well,” Birk said. “It really has. I think we’re ahead of schedule. Of course, we have a parking lot to put in yet. We’ve got fencing to put around the splash pad and a little bit of sidewalk, and I think we’ll be coming to a conclusion on this project.”

Birk added that the next major step of this project will be bringing the various fixtures the park district currently has to the splash pad for installation.

Waterloo Park Board Vice President Mike Nolte said some of the project fixtures – namely the large barn as well as the more recently ordered bubbler and corn stalk decorations – are set to arrive in the future, though a delivery date has yet to be determined.

Closing out his report, Birk noted the change orders of the project, with deductions totalling $109,279 and additions totalling $21,477 for net savings amounting to $87,802.

Waterloo Park Board President Gina Pfund remarked on the overall state of the project and comments she’s heard from some in the community.

“I’ve heard a lot of very positive things from many people about it,” Pfund said. “People are very excited.”

Splash pad discussion continued later in the meeting. After a security camera installation estimate and plan was approved, talk turned to rules for the facility.

Nolte said he had recently shared a collection of rules he’d written based on other splash pads he’s studied.

While the board didn’t approve a set of rules, instead deciding to finalize them at a future meeting, commissioners touched on disallowing food in the splash pad and not opening the space for rental, at least for its first year.

The board also spoke positively about setting splash pad hours from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Commissioner Shelby Mathes emphasized the need to let residents have access to the space well into the evening given how late the sun sets in summer months, and Commissioner Mary Gardner similarly spoke in favor of allowing folks to make use of the space early in the day.

Splash pad talk also touched on the purchasing of a brass plaque for the site to recognize the facility’s financial sponsors as well as progress on gathering seating and other amenities for space around the splash pad.

Waterloo Citizens for a Pool President Amy Grandcolas was present to speak about these amenities as the organization has been running a “Park It” campaign, gathering plastic caps, lids and other items to be recycled into tables and benches.

Donations can be dropped off at Waterloo City Hall and Morrison-Talbott Library during normal hours, and a list of acceptable donations and more details can be found at waterloopool.com or the Waterloo Citizens for a Pool Facebook page.

Earlier in the meeting, the board heard a brief presentation from local Girl Scout Nora Kettler – along with her mother Cara – who requested approval to run a week-long day camp for her troop at Konarcik Park as they’ve done for the past few years.

Nora said this year’s camp would have a focus on animals, with one day potentially featuring a police K-9 unit and alpacas and another day involving birds from the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis.

“I’ve been going to day camp since kindergarten, so I’m just really excited to get to do it for myself and have all my ideas be shown,” Nora said.

Provided the group is able to take care of insurance and other requisite matters, the park board enthusiastically approved the camp – which will make use of all Konarcik Park pavilions – June 17-21 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Waterloo Park District Superintendent Don Prater was also positive about the camp, commending Nora and her peers for taking care of the park and cleaning up after themselves.

The board also approved this year’s updated pavilion reservation forms. Reservation fees were unchanged.

Additionally, the board conducted an efficiency committee meeting, briefly discussing future progress for how the board will satisfy a state-mandated efficiency report over the coming months.

Gardner reported that three sponsorships for the Konarcik Park disc golf course had been received.

The board also approved the purchase of new soccer nets at Lions Park.