With some of the hottest days of the summer serving as a backdrop, the Waterloo Park District Board this month focused much discussion on the Waterloo Community Splash Pad, where cracks in the still-new equipment briefly threatened one of the city’s ideal spots to beat the heat.

Splash pad talk was largely prompted by Park District Treasurer Julie Bradley as she discussed a request from Rain Drop Products for the park district to pay a remaining bill of roughly $64,000 for the tractor, cornstalks and other features of the splash pad.

As Bradley and the board members recalled at the meeting, the board had held this check as it waited for delivery and installation of the main barn feature, which was originally paid for several years ago early in the project’s development.

With the board agreeing to send Rain Drop a separate check for $1,000 for additional facility management training that had been done with park district staff, Park District Superintendent Don Prater chimed in to recommend holding the larger payment on account of the current state of some splash pad features.

In particular, Prater noted cracks that had appeared on the corn stalks – installed prior to the splash pad’s inaugural season last year – and the slide part of the barn – installed earlier this season.

He voiced his disapproval for Rain Drop’s customer service throughout the splash pad’s development – the barn was heavily delayed on several occasions despite being among the first features paid for, and board members have previously noted a lack of communication when they’ve reached out to Rain Drop – and suggested the company’s service would likely get worse once upon being fully compensated.

Prater further argued that, while Waterloo’s splash pad might have been Rain Drop’s first, they still need to deliver a satisfactory product.

“Them cornstalks are cracking and splitting up, and they’ve only had one season use,” Prater said. “The slide has only been a month, maybe five weeks at the most, and it’s cracking and splitting already… It may have been the first one you’ve ever built, but we’re not paying $90,000 for something that don’t last a month. That don’t make sense.”

Board members Gina Pfund and Jim Perotti absent, the board voted to continue withholding the final splash pad payment, with Park District Attorney Paul Schimpf advising a letter be sent to Rain Drop to explain the payment is being withheld due to concern over the seemingly defective products.

Regarding cracks in the barn’s slide, Park District President Mary Gardner shared the day after the meeting that she, Prater and Schimpf had visited the splash pad following the meeting to inspect the cracks, which were expanding and collapsing into pockets.

Prater reached out to a Rain Drop representative to explain the issue, with the representative advising a fill-in of resin/putty followed by sanding to remedy the problem for the time being until someone from Rain Drop is able to conduct an inspection.

The district was assured this repair would not void the barn’s warranty.

Further speaking on the splash pad, Prater reported the mats recently placed around the barn due to falling concerns seemed to be responding poorly to the chemicals used in the facility – though the replacement mats appear to be working much better.

He also spoke about issues with the splash pad’s chlorine.

“Air is getting into the line, and chlorine and the air causes the chlorine to crystallize and harden,” Prater said. “So I changed it yesterday because it was clogging up again.”

Prater said a new fitting should remedy the issue.

Splash pad discussion continued elsewhere in the meeting as the board spoke about the resolution temporarily allowing food truck vendors – specifically ice cream trucks – to make use of the splash pad parking lot off Rogers Street.

The board extended the resolution, continuing to allow ice cream vendors at the splash pad following Prater’s report that incidents of people bringing food into the splash pad had been minimal.

Specifically, he pointed to just two times he’d found remnants of ice cream in the area around the facility but not inside the actual splash pad area.

Board member Scott Davis asked Prater if folks had been doing well abiding by the splash pad’s no-food rule.

“Actually, I think they have. It surprises me greatly,” Prater said. “I told Mary my recommendation. It ain’t near as bad as I thought it was gonna be.”

Still, he expressed his desire to have an option to rescind the resolution should the splash pad run into clogs or other food-related issues in the future.

“Let’s give it a shot and see what happens as long as we have the option,” Prater said.

Another small splash pad item was brought up by Schimpf as he mentioned communications with the parent of a child who had gotten injured at the splash pad.

He noted that, while the park district maintains that individuals using district facilities do so at their own risk, the district and board still need to preserve any evidence of injury such as security camera recordings.

Still in the area of the splash pad and William Zimmer Memorial Park, Gardner reported she and Vice President Curtis Haentzler had met with members of the Remlok subdivision homeowners association to discuss developments there as had been agreed upon at the start of the splash pad development project.

Gardner reported the HOA had been pleasantly surprised with the splash pad as they had originally been concerned about trash and noise increasing.

They mainly voiced an interest in trees being planted in the area, and discussion among the board then briefly turned to the ideal variety of tree that would pose minimal leaf litter problems for the splash pad.

Concerning the development at Lions Park headed by the Waterloo Lions Club, Prater said the project to improve that park’s accessibility had begun – though he noted some concerns about a water line in the way of the planned road into the new small parking lot.

The board also approved an update to the district’s use ordinance pertaining to guests’ assumption of risk for using district facilities, the closure of the splash pad during severe weather and the fact park district water and electricity is intended for patrons.

The board also approved the park district’s audit, with folks wishing to view it able to do so at the park district office in September.