The Lebanon Aquatic District filled a recently vacated seat on the board and appointed board members as co-budget officers during its last two regular meetings.
More recently, it was revealed funding originally promised by the Lebanon Community School District to assist with pool repairs has been pulled.
And after some delay responding to a public records request, the board recently released a settlement document regarding its former executive director.
The former director, Lorlee Engler, worked for the Lebanon Aquatic District for almost two decades, and as executive director since 2014. She announced her resignation in August 2025.
Very little is known about the separation, but a publicly available settlement document signed in January 2026 reveals the district settled out of court with Engler for $96,000 ($31,680 of which was paid to her attorney), paid by the district’s insurance carrier.
The document also reveals that Engler had filed a tort claim against the district in July 2025 arising out of her employment.
Engler told The New Era, “The sport of swimming and the Lebanon Community Pool will always hold a special place in my heart.
“During the nearly 19 years I was employed by the Lebanon Aquatic District, I did my best to provide the highest quality of service to the public. I brought a passion for public service and a strong commitment to stewarding a community resource that means so much to so many.
“As I begin my next chapter, I wish nothing but the best for staff and patrons of the Lebanon Community Pool.”
The district has not yet responded with a comment.
Feb. 16 board meeting
During the board’s meeting on Feb. 16, Darla Bulmer, board chair at the time, announced Director Julie Miller’s resignation.
With the seat now vacant, Bulmer said she confirmed with former applicant Ross Dewberry whether he would still be interested in joining the board, and moved to appoint him in Miller’s seat.
Last August, the board interviewed three candidates to fill outgoing Board Director Mark McAllister’s seat, who resigned. They were Elaine Wilder, Robert Waterhouse and Dewberry.
Bulmer explained her decision to select Dewberry because Wilder was appointed to McAllister’s seat and Waterhouse had since formed a nonprofit group, Friends of Lebanon Pool. Waterhouse later told The New Era he would have liked the opportunity to consider removing himself from the nonprofit in order to join the board, stating he would like to see more pool users on the board.
The board expected to hold a public meeting later in the month to start discussions about what repair or renovation projects the pool could proceed with. According to Board Director Kim Kendall, they would be drawing from a list of maintenance needs prepared some time ago by the former executive director and the school district’s COO.
Bulmer said she first wanted to solidify where they were financially before proceeding.
Jim Knoup, pool staff, reported a recent maintenance issue that caused the pool to shut down for a night when air bubbles were forming in the main pool, causing reduced visibility. After some investigation, Knoup and others determined the problem may be coming from the gutter system, so they created a “temporary fix” by overfilling the gutter system.
The pump for the main pool also needed repairs after a float on the modulating valve came off, and a broken step in the deep end was epoxied for $1,000 until new steps can be installed during an upcoming pool renovation.
Knoup also reported the warm pool’s ProMinent chemical feeder went out, causing him to have to manually treat the pool every hour until the repair could be made, and new ADA stairs were purchased.
In other business:
- The board approved a resolution authorizing a change of banking institution.
- The board moved to acknowledge the change of their lawyer, Eileen Eakins, to a new law firm, Cable Huston LLP, and agreed to continue retaining her as their lawyer.
- Executive Director Jill Smith, attending via Zoom, reported the pool had more than 100 sign ups for lessons.
- Board Director Jereme Guenther reported he is, as treasurer, adjusting some categories on the budget income to be more program-specific, which will result in year over year numbers looking different. He also reported the pool has been providing more support for the swim club, resulting in less time/income for lessons and programs.
- Director Kim Kendall reported the local Conservative Alliance (also known as the Candidate Identification and Support Committee, or CISC PAC) donated $1,000 to the pool.
- Wilder reported she gave beanies to senior swimmers during a recognition event, and presented ideas for how to raise money for the pool through sales. She also reported staff is preparing the outside walls of the building for a mural, which is anticipated to be done during the dry season in partnership with local schools.
March 16 board meeting
During their March 16 meeting, Kendall proposed that she and Bulmer be appointed as co-directors for the budget this year, which the board approved.
“We both have really busy jobs, and together, for something like this, we make a whole person,” Kendall said. “I’m really good at the details and the meeting parts and the timelines… and she has been working with the numbers.”
For the past decade and more, it has been the executive director of the pool – hired by the Board of Directors – who was appointed as budget officer.
Looking at other local tax-funded, governmental districts, in the City of Lebanon, the city manager – who is hired by City Council – would be appointed as budget officer. For the Lebanon Community School District, the finance director under the supervision of the superintendent – who is hired by the school board – would be appointed as budget officer. For the Lebanon Fire District, the fire chief – hired by the board of directors – is usually appointed.
To put it into perspective, the pool board’s move to appoint itself as budget officer would be like the mayor proposing he and the city council president act as budget officer, or the school district board chair proposing he and the vice chair act as budget officer.
The board approved the four budget committee members, who are Laura Bloedel, Jan Pedersen, Susan Williamson and Michael Fox, with alternate Terry Cadigan.
Kendall said the board would like to form two committees, which would allow each committee to come back to board meetings with status updates on certain matters.
She said she, Wilder and Smith would form a Public Relations & Communications Committee.
She told Guenther, Dewberry and Smith she’d like them to be on the Technology Committee, which would entail working on website stuff and Internet connection functions in the conference room.
Guenther “counter proposed” that he work under Smith, the executive director of the pool, which would give Smith the authority to make decisions that “should be run through her anyway,” and reduce the need to take official minutes from committee meetings.
Kendall said it would not be any official, legal, public committee that would require him to take minutes.
Listening in on the board meeting through Zoom, Smith messaged Dewberry, saying it has already been passed that he would work with Guenther on the website.
Kendall elaborated to The New Era that “last year, at the director’s request, the board voted to have Jereme assist Jill with the website. Ross was a volunteer who helped on an as-needed basis.”
Guenther clarified at the meeting that he helps Smith with the current website and is helping figure out how to mesh Square with the website in order to be able to take payments online. Bulmer also noted they are working to comply with the state requirement making the website ADA-compliant, including publishing all documents online.
Addressing “ongoing pool renovations” on the agenda, Kendall only stated,
“We have had some conversations with a bank. I don’t have any feedback yet from those conversations, but next month, hopefully we will have a plan and we will be able to determine what moving forward with the repairs looks like. We have to decide by the next meeting, mostly the timeline issue is the permits (“and booking the contractors,” Bulmer added), so we’ll know next month for sure.”
Bulmer and Kendall said they are “still sticking with the same April 6” date, but the significance of the date was never explained, even after The New Era reached out via email. Further, while it appears some discussions outside of public meetings are being had about what repairs they’re considering, those plans or ideas have not yet been revealed publicly.
Bulmer said they will have a special meeting on the subject, if needed, and “it’s been extremely positive,” (“It has been very positive,” Kendall added), though it was never made clear what “it” is.
Wilder asked Kendall if the shortfall is still $400,000, which Kendall affirmed as “right now, yeah.”
When asking for clarification via email about this agenda item brief, a question about what the “shortfall” means was never answered, as well as other questions regarding how much they had and how much more they needed for repairs.
Kendall only explained,
“At the February board meeting, we reported that we were contacting several banks about potential loan options and received positive initial feedback, but nothing that warranted calling a special meeting.”
It should be noted that there were no such discussions during that public meeting.
“On the morning of the March board meeting, we had a promising call with a bank; however, moments before the meeting began, I was informed that the additional funding previously expected from the school was no longer available,” Kendall said. “We are actively working on determining the best path forward.”
In other business:
- The board swore-in Ross Dewberry as a board director.
- Bulmer resigned her seat as board chair, replaced by Kendall.
- Wilder had informed the board earlier that Stephen Hodges, of BosonHub, would like to build a new website for the pool free of charge.
- Waterhouse delivered a $1,100 check on behalf of the Friends of Lebanon Pool to be used toward the warm pool steps, donated by Susan Morton and Jennifer Bryant. He also introduced the nonprofit’s first fundraising event this year, Splash For Cash, which will run May 3-9. The website is also live now, at FriendsOfLebanonPool.com.
- Peggy Snyder, pool user for 22 years, expressed concern about the deep water jogging class, which she described as “disintegrating” due to lack of a consistent leader for the class. She said the class size used to be “huge,” but has declined since class instructor Rose Kress left.
- Bulmer reported on behalf of Smith that warm water class sizes have increased and lessons have been “popular.”
- Bulmer said “revenue has been strong in certain categories,” but there’s been a decline in memberships despite participation being good. “Overall we’re doing very well. Expenses are under control, we’ve had great improvement in expenses, and also our tax revenue was stronger, so that’s helping.”
- Wilder reported progress on a muralist competition she is organizing for the pool building. Students from elementary all the way up into the medical colleges will be given the opportunity to submit drawings to be judged for a chance to win prizes. She also reported discussion she’s had with the fire district about the possibility of holding water safety classes.
Pool funding
Wading in to the question about pool repair funds from the school district, which owns the facility, Kendall told The New Era that she and Bulmer have been meeting with the school district’s COO, William Lewis, on a weekly basis to stay informed on the progress with funding and repairs.
“Because the building is owned by the school district, Will has been coordinating directly with their project management team and provides us with weekly updates,” she said. “The original project scope was established between Will and the former director prior to our involvement. The scope has since been adjusted based on available funding and remains fluid as we determine next steps.”
During its April 10, 2025 board meeting, the school board agreed to provide half the needed funding for a $1 million pool repair project which would include replacing the faulty gutter system, pumps and pipes, and repair cracks and resurface the pool.
At the March 25 City Council meeting, Wilder addressed the council, stating the school district planned to give $500,000 while the pool district would give $250,000 toward the “pared down” $1.2 million cost for repairs. She said there would be a $400,000 shortfall.
However, the pool board recently learned the school district would be pulling their funding “because of loss of teacher pay.”
“This is a real blow to us that worked so hard,” Wilder said. “I just wanted to bring it to your attention because right now we’re thinking about how to proceed.”
She added that she’s aware “it would take one slight thing like a small earthquake or a flooding to crack that foundation on the pool. If that happens, I’m not sure we’ll have an option.”
The New Era reached out to Lewis for more details about the matter, but the story went to publication before he could respond.