The splash pad project was once again a prominent topic of discussion at the Waterloo Park Board’s May meeting, though the board also went through its reorganization following the April 4 elections.

Opening the meeting, the board welcomed recently elected board member Mary Gardner. She has replaced Kevin Hahn following his resignation after moving out of the area.

The board then selected its officers for the year, with Gina Pfund replacing Shelby Mathes as board president and Michael Nolte serving as vice president.

Later in the meeting, Nolte offered a brief presentation to the board concerning research he had conducted over the last few months into the splash pad project.

One of the slides Nolte presented showed the considerable differences between the planned Waterloo splash pad and planned or active facilities in nearby communities such as Red Bud, Dupo and Millstadt as well as splash pads further away in Washington, Mo., and Asbury, Iowa.

The planned splash pad in Zimmer Park, Nolte pointed out, has an area of 4,587 square feet with 28 features. Other splash pads ranged from 666 to 4,000 square feet and eight to 20 features.

Additionally, Waterloo ranked among the middle of these communities as far as population with just over 11,000 residents. Communities Nolte described in his report had populations ranging from 3,684 in Red Bud to 25,218 in Edwardsville.

He also noted that the pump and filter system currently planned for the project would be over the top even with the full-scale project.

Nolte summarized his report pointing to the persistent issue of the splash pad project’s cost and the possibility of reducing that price by bringing the facility more in line with other splash pads.

“Shrinking it down to 60 or 70 percent of what we proposed would really eliminate a lot of area that we would have to build,” Nolte said. “We also have a lot of features compared to the other facilities… nearly double most of them.”

This reconsideration of the project’s scale comes as the park district has tried to acquire necessary funding for several months now, though it has also been noted at past meetings that an individual overseeing the project’s Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development Grant previously questioned the splash pad’s size.

Mathes pointed out that the size was originally proposed due to the several daycares and other nearby facilities that could significantly impact traffic to the splash pad.

Ultimately, Nolte recommended that the board continue to look into downsizing the project in order to bring down costs, running the current plans by a contractor to see where money could be saved.

“My proposal would be to look at – I know we’ve already invested funds in doing the design – but looking at a contractor that specializes in facilities like this and see if they would take the plans that we have… take those plans and modify them to reduce the size now,” Nolte said.

As part of the agenda, the board also conducted its first meeting to discuss government efficiency, with the entire board serving as a committee on the matter.

Park District Attorney Mary Buettner brought up this matter at the previous board meeting, explaining that this requirement comes from a newly passed law which she interpreted as a means to push governmental entities in Illinois to consolidate where possible.

As the park district has little to no areas where it might consolidate, discussion focused on other areas of efficiency, with some board members suggesting adjustments or additions to the district’s website as well as establishing a presence for the district on social media in order to better reach out to and inform citizens.

Waterloo Citizens for a Pool President Amy Grandcolas – who is one of the citizen members of the committee along with Alan Mitan – was avoice in the discussion suggesting that the committee look at the district’s financial dealings to check for any possible redundancies or other issues.

A second meeting of this efficiency committee is planned for several months following the release of the district’s audit for the previous year.

Several other park board matters were also discussed in the meeting, with Waterloo Mayor Stan Darter speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Darter said he had been in discussions with the local Daughters of the American Revolution chapter about the possibility of installing a monument at Lakeview Park.

He also said he had recently heard a noise complaint concerning the city’s skate park.

Darter explained that a group of kids had recently been harassing Mitan and his family – who live right next to the skate park.

Mitan has previously addressed the park board about other such disturbances at the skate park in meetings last year.

“They were actually screaming and cursing at Alan Mitan’s family,” Darter said. “They had it on their phone. Of course, they were over on the other side of the fence, you couldn’t see them. But even on the other side of the fence, I mean, they were screaming at them.”

Darter further said that police had handed out several citations, but he wanted to bring the matter to the park board’s attention. He suspects that the issue might involve several older kids instigating younger kids to yell and cause trouble.

Pfund and Park District Superintendent Don Prater also spoke about the recent butterfly garden project at Lakeview Drive.

Pfund expressed her gratitude for the substantial number of volunteers who helped with the planting and other aspects of the garden.

Prater noted the amount of water necessary to keep the garden adequately watered, with Pfund adding that the project happened in the middle of a significant dry period.

Prater also said that he had been able to find a means to get the roughly 160 gallons to the garden when necessary thanks to a pump and a 40 year old generator he was able to get running.

“If you drive by and you see my truck sitting out there, smoke coming out of the back of it and the hose running up the hill, we’re watering the butterfly garden,” Prater said.