Trenton city council members say they’ll look into possible ways to lengthen next year’s pool schedule next August, despite the expected drop of swimmers attributed to the start of local schools.
The assurance came after a bevy of silver haired swimmers turned out en masse for Monday night’s regularly scheduled meeting, to support more time poolside for a more mature and growing crowd.
Group spokesperson Deborah Miller proposed to the council in exploring more pool availability for the “Senior Swim Club” which she says has nearly doubled in participants. Miller says the group is willing to find a way to help defray the associated costs involved for more time in the tank..
“That pool is a tremendous asset to the community”, Miller told council members. “It’s very therapeutic for us,” noting the number of swimmers in the group who have utilized aqua therapy post surgery; with positive results. “Exercising with gravity off your back is very important to us,” said Miller.
“August is getting hotter and many of us would appreciate the entire month,” but Miller told members she understands the potential difficulties, which are more than just financial.
Parks Commissioner Terry Powell lamented the city’s longstanding problem with operating the pool has been the shortage of available lifeguards, who have been in greater demand since the conclusion of the Covid-19 health pandemic.
Miller suggested making the facility more available for necessary lifeguard training, to fill both labor and maintenance cost gaps. She also said hiring temporary lifeguards from nearby LaFayette could help with the staffing issues. Miller pointed out the LaFayette pool operates until September 1st with more than a dozen lifeguards.
Miller also suggested Dade’s Senior Swimmers could buy annual pool passes, hold fundraising events, or simply hike the daily pool access price to offset any budget concern.
Miller says she understands the added costs to operate the city-run pool runs approximately $50 an hour for labor, and roughly $300 weekly for pool chemicals.
Trenton Mayor Alex Case says city officials can look at plausible options for extended pool hours as they budget for the next fiscal year. Case says the answer may lie simply in better scheduling.
In other council business, Police Commissioner Mike Norris told the council to expect another public job filing with the resignation of a city police officer, bound for another agency. Norris also suggested the projected budgeting for two additional patrol positions to deal with Trenton’s growing traffic count, ciring shift demands at local manufacturers.
In regular city business, the council approved SPLOST funded purchases for a 20 foot container for Trenton Police, a $199,850 bid for repaving and line striping parts of 1st Street, Court Street, Case Avenue and Oriole Drive.
Council members also approved a separate $50,000 for a joint paving project between Dade County Industrial Development Authority for more asphalt work needed on Vanguard Drive.
By: Vince Lennen
