OTTUMWA — Jered Brisby has been on the run since kinder weather arrived in early May.

Brisby is the maintenance supervisor at The Beach Ottumwa. When he sat down Tuesday afternoon at the table with the Park Advisory Board, he said “it was the first time” he’d sat down all day.

“April’s weather didn’t allow much work outdoors this month and we’re making up for it,” he said.

Last month the park board decided to meet at The Beach and tour the facility.

Brisby also said he has replaced 75 percent of the ceiling tiles. But, some of the concrete in the 16-year-old water park is deteriorating.

“The outdoor catch pool has been fixed. We were losing 5,000-7,000 gallons a day,” he said.

There’s still a large pile of tree limbs on the property but Brisby said he’ll “bring in a chipper” to dispose of those.

“The fire systems have been checked and we now have a kitchen range hood that’s been upgraded to national standards and it has a wet system now,” Brisby said.

Rubber matting in the kids’ play area has been replaced and the park now has 30 new metal loungers.

Gene Rathje, the city’s park and recreation/The Beach Ottumwa manager, said he’d received a call from someone interested in a dog park.

Board Member Sarah Sels said she’d “heard about those” parks for exercising dogs and owners have to clean up after their pets.

“We need more information about how they operate those,” she added.

Parks Maintenance Supervisor Chris Cobler said the citywide tree cleanup took most of his department’s time during March; but, crews did get the water turned on at the ball fields, cleaned restrooms and did a “playground audit.”

“In April we sent two workers to the playground safety classes and we’re getting some things fixed,” Cobler said.

Cobler’s crews have also planted 75 trees, which were obtained through the Wapello County Conservation Board. The trees are now in the nursery at Memorial Park.