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Parks commission approves daily maintenance hour for Huitt Park splash pad
Summary
The Oroville Parks Commission approved a daily one-hour maintenance window for the Huitt Park splash pad, after staff described repeated unscheduled stoppages and filtration and chemical needs. Commissioners also discussed staffing and reservation-block timing for the park.
The Oroville Parks Commission on June 9 voted unanimously to establish a daily maintenance window for the Huitt Park splash pad, approving a motion to schedule about one hour each afternoon for cleaning and pump/filtration checks.
The action followed a staff presentation from Tim Cber, the city's director of public works, who said unscheduled stoppages were frequent and that the system needs regular backwashing and chemical balancing. "There's going to be some cleaning... shutting it down for up to an hour in the afternoon after the last rental period of the pavilion so that we don't interrupt anybody's paid for time," Cber said during the meeting.
Cber told commissioners the splash pad already requires short, often unplanned shutdowns to backwash sand filters and check pressures and chlorine levels. Staff proposed a scheduled daily window—roughly 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., or shorter as conditions permit—and said it would post closures on social media and on site to reduce surprise calls to council and police. "We already close it down every afternoon for 20 to 30 minutes depending on usage," Cber said; a scheduled hour would allow the crew to perform more predictable maintenance.
Commission discussion also highlighted staffing constraints: the parks department is currently short three workers (two positions being advertised and one employee on FMLA), and staff said Huitt Park is consuming roughly 60 labor hours per week. Commissioners asked whether a full weekly closure (proposed as a Monday) might sometimes be needed for deeper maintenance; Cber said he would enact a Monday closure if necessary but recommended trying the daily hour first.
The commission also discussed reservation time blocks for Huitt Park and other facilities, noting that current blocks (for example, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1 p.m.-4 p.m.) were set by council and that any change would return to council for final approval. Commissioners asked staff to compile use and schedule data before bringing any formal reservation-time changes back for a future agenda.
The motion to establish the daily maintenance window was moved, seconded and passed unanimously. Commissioners said updates and usage figures will be tracked and reported back in future committee packets.
