With minimal activity during the offseason, the Waterloo Park District Board met briefly earlier this month, mainly approving a number of annexations to the park district and addressing some billing matters.

Board members Scott Davis and Gina Pfund were both absent from this month’s meeting.

As was explained by Waterloo Park District Attorney Paul Schimpf, the park district – as a separate entity from the City of Waterloo – is required to conduct its own property annexations, regularly ensuring that both the city and district have the same boundaries when it comes to taxable properties.

The board then went through the process of approving ordinances 265-269, annexing 38.56 acres near the Remlok subdivision, 0.46 acres near RMC Cinema, 15.2 acres near Cedarhurst Senior Living, 5.05 acres adjacent to Lakeview Park and 0.55 acres again near the movie theater.

Even amid its closure for the winter, the Waterloo Community Splash Pad received some attention as it was noted Rain Drop Products is anticipated to visit sometime from May 10-16 next year for previously discussed maintenance matters.

Park Board President Mary Gardner followed this splash pad talk by suggesting some decorations be put up next year, potentially adding some holiday lights or decor to the facility’s fence next Christmas.

Park District Superintendent Don Prater offered a brief report, noting some necessary truck repairs and informing the board that cones and a chain had been procured to help block off the splash pad’s parking lot while it’s closed.

Closing out the meeting, Lisa Pecha of the Waterloo Park District Foundation – who was not present at last month’s meeting – offered her thanks to those who stopped by the astronomy event at Lakeview Park in October, though she joked and lamented the less-than-ideal weather guests encountered.

“I just wanted to thank everybody for coming out and supporting Astronomy Night,” Pecha said. “I know we didn’t have the best weather. We tossed around the idea of those two weekends, and we thought the earlier one would be warmer and better, and we failed. But I appreciate all of you coming out and supporting it. We found some great resources in our community with the library and that young man who was there, so we’ll try that again maybe in the summer.”

Gardner echoed her sentiment about pursuing the event again in the future, remarking that, “It’s too good of a program to not do it again.”