Editor:
In response to some of Barbara Story’s questions (April 25) regarding the upcoming levy, there has been a lot of discussion on ways to fund our swimming pool. I am one of several pool supporters and patrons who have been meeting for the last couple of years, trying to come up with a solution to fund our pool ever since the school board decided it could no longer afford to keep it running.
Since the pool is used by, and benefits, the entire community rather than just our kids, it makes sense to transfer the financial responsibility from the school district to the community. Forming an aquatics district would accomplish that, but at this time that would take too much money from other groups in our town. Our committee was left with the decision to ask for a local option levy to tide us over until the economy improves, at which time we can hopefully pursue longer-term funding through an aquatics district.
While I was not directly involved in coming up with the budget, I do know that in asking for this levy and its amount, great care was taken to minimize the financial impact on our community. I don’t believe that any more money is being asked for from the voters than what is truly needed to fund the pool. Some of the costs include an aquatics director salary, lifeguard pay, general maintenance and utilities. Admissions alone cannot cover all of these costs. We, as a community, need to step up and help support the pool if we want to keep it open.
The pool is currently running on “bare bones,” with limited hours and no swim lessons offered to district students. Patrons have paid more in admission fees and members of the Swim Club have been working hard at fund-raising efforts. The money they have earned not only goes to their program, but also toward keeping the pool open this year.
We have all been made aware of the many benefits our pool has to this community. It is now our turn to decide if it is important enough to us to pay a little more out of our pockets in order to keep this valuable source of recreation, fitness and life-saving skills. Let’s look to the future and think about what we want for our community in the long run. I am encouraged by the changes being made in our shops downtown, and also in the increased interest in fitness by people living here. Let’s take another step towards keeping our town vital, healthy and fit by voting financially to support our pool.
Melanie Jones
Sweet Home