The city of Delaware’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will split into two committees every other month, beginning in May.

The board’s nine community members will decide whether they want to represent the parks or the recreation side when they meet on April 19. The idea is to divide the board into the two committees as evenly as possible.

City staff said that the committees would meet every other month for an hour at a time — one from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and the other from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The committees would take turns going the first hour. The board members, who serve three-year terms, will serve on their respective committees until the end of the year, and be given the option if they want to switch committees the next year.

Each committee would appoint a chairman who would give a report to the entire board starting in June.

The decision to split into committees has been long discussed as a means to get more accomplished. It would also change the board’s normal monthly meeting format, which consists of reports from representatives of the Delaware Community YMCA, and Parks Superintendent Stacy Davenport. That format may change further once a new parks and natural resources director is hired by the city.

At the March board meeting, the YMCA’s Active Older Adults Director Amy Mosser said 404 people attended the recent “Daddy Daughter Dance,” and it may have to move to another venue next year to accommodate more people. In addition, she discussed other recent YMCA events, such as a “Mother Son Superhero Party”; an underwater Easter egg hunt; and the regular Easter egg hunt in Veterans Park.

Also at the Delaware YMCA, registration is underway for the first community “Field Day” on June 18. The five-sport event (volleyball, tug of war, relay races, kick ball and dodge ball) pits community or corporate teams of 10-12 individuals to vie for a Community Cup. The Field Day will also support the Delaware YMCA’s annual campaign. For more information, contact Colleen McLain at [email protected] or 740-203-3051.

Davenport said that Hidden Valley Golf Course will offer lessons for all ages on select Monday and Wednesday evenings. He also gave opening dates for some city park projects — Veterans Plaza on May 30; Veterans Park Spray and Play on June 4; and the dog park on May 7.

“It’s really wet out there,” Davenport said of the dog park. “I don’t want to open it prematurely and tear up the grass we worked so hard to get in there.”