79 years of swimming at the city pool
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May 14, 2013 |
By the 1920s, the Village of Bonners Ferry was
researching and planning for a public swimming
pool. This dream was finally realized in 1934 by
a project done by the depression era Works
Progress Administration (WPA).
The city pool was built on two lots purchased by
the City in 1934 from local residents Bruce
Malcolm and Golda & W. W. Carlock for a total of
$250.
The Village of Bonners Ferry was not unique as a
number of pools were built by the WPA. They can
be recognized by their unique size of 30 feet by
90.
What does make the City of Bonners Ferry unique
is that we still have a municipal swimming pool.
The number of small towns with pools is small
and that number is shrinking. As these old pools
continue to age, the operations and maintenance
(O&M) costs increase. Chemicals to disinfect and
maintain acceptable water quality standards have
steadily increased as well as general upkeep.
Most recently, new American Disabilities Act
(ADA) requirements, which took effect January 1
this year, will add additional costs to running
the pool.
Our pool budget is about $50,000 per year for
utilities, chemicals and lifeguards.
In addition we have invested almost $100,000 in
our pool over the past decade.
The largest items were a $54,000 replacement of
the floor due to leakage through the old
concrete and a $28,000 replacement of the
filtering system. One upcoming expense will be
the replacement of the heater, estimated at
$10,000, that is well past its useful life.
Until this year, the only fees charged to city
pool users were to those who took swimming
lessons, and which only covered the cost of
lessons. The city’s general fund, which
essentially is derived from various taxes, has
provided the monies to cover the pool's O&M
costs.
Like many other communities, the city’s general
fund revenues are not keeping up with the
request for service and the regulatory
requirements.
The city strongly believes that the pool
provides a great recreational opportunity to the
community and, more importantly, is essential
for teaching the children of our community to
swim.
Over 400 children take swimming lessons each
year.
The city wants all to enjoy this asset. However,
please also be mindful that the pool does come
with costs that typically increase over time. As
a result, the city is establishing a new pool
user fee structure to help cover the costs to
keep the pool open.
This issue is not uncommon in the municipal pool
arena and no municipality could charge its pool
users fees that would cover the true cost to
keep them open. This year the city is charging a
nominal fee for swimming to help offset the cost
of running the pool. The charge is one dollar
per day or a season pass, included with swimming
lessons or available for $5 for city residents
and $10 for people residing outside of the city.
So starting June 10, enjoy this treasure of the
city swimming pool, make sure our young people
know how to swim, and be proud that we have been
able to operate this facility for 79 years and
counting.
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