Pool to close

Council finalizes decision at Monday's meeting

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

— After more than a year of deliberation and second chances, the Decatur City Council, at Monday’s meeting, reluctantly but unanimously voted to close the city swimming pool.

The city council first considered closing the pool early last spring after financial reports showed the city pool lost more than $8,000 during the summer of 2008. It was decided to keep the pool open one more year, but during the summer of 2009 it lost more than $9,000, according to the city’s financial reports.

The biggest problem the pool faces is a lack of attendance and a lack of interest, according to the council. Councilwoman Linda Martin and councilwoman Sandy Duncan said several community members approached them with ideas to boost attendance, such asBy Janelle Jessen [email protected]changing the pool hours to include more evenings and weekends for working parents.

Martin, Duncan and Mayor Bill Montgomery agreed the changes would have little effect.

“It’s been open all hours and it doesn‘t make any difference,” alderman Raegena Davis commented.

Martin pointed out that many people buy inexpensive above-ground pools for their backyards or go to other swimming pools such as the Siloam Springs Water Park.

“I don’t see how we can afford it,” alderman Trip Lapham said, voicing concerns that the pool may need repairs in addition to regular costs such as chemicals and lifeguard salaries.

The fence around the pool will have to be repaired whether or not the pool is closed for safety reasons, public works director James Boston explained.

“The pool itself is in good shape. Maybe we should shut it down for a year and if the interest is still there we can re-openit. We have a good cover, it’s not going to hurt it to sit there for a year,” he said.

It was necessary to make the decision at the February council meeting because lifeguard training would need to begin in March if the pool was keptopen, city administrative assistant Kim Beggs explained.

Murmurs of “I hate to see it close” could be heard around the table, but when Montgomery polled the council, each alderman voted to permanently close the pool.

There is some hope that the pool could be reopened in the future.

The city council would simply have to re-visit the issue and vote to open the swimming pool if it chose to do so at some future date, city attorney Tom Smith explained.

News, Pages 1 on 02/17/2010