Years of inadequate maintenance at the Jefferson municipal swimming pool have caught up to the Jefferson park and recreation department, and the future of the pool is now in jeopardy unless a considerable investment is made in the 75-year-old structure.
Jefferson city council member Shannon Black, who serves on the Park and Recreation Commission, reported to the Jefferson city council at its Oct. 22 regular meeting. She explained that a leaky pipe when the pool closed after Labor Day prompted park and rec director Vicky Lautner to call ACCO for a thorough inspection. “Our filters are in really, really, really, bad, bad condition,” Black told the council, referring to that inspection. “The rust is so bad at this point that we really run the risk right now of possibly not having a pool next summer because it’s so bad.”
Trying to repair the rust at this point is not a good option, according to the ACCO inspector. Black was asked to seek direction from the city council because of the expense involved.
ACCO submitted a bid of $78,855 for new filters. The park and rec department budget does not have the funds at this time. A decision must be made by January, Black said, to allow time for installation before the pool opens next May.
Council member Gary Von Ahsen and city engineer John Milligan both questioned how the filters got to be in such dire condition. Black explained that the worst of the rust was not visible from the top, but only by going behind the filters.
Milligan was critical of the situation, saying that it had taken 26 years to get to the present situation. “Apparently nobody cared enough to fix it. This was obvious long before now,” Milligan said. When asked by council person Lisa Jaskey what should be done to prevent a similar situation years from now, Milligan answered, “A little maintenance goes a long way.”
Milligan said he had not been included in the inspection nor any discussion until that day.
According to Milligan, “The swimming pool for a long time was kind of like the illegitimate child of the city. Nobody ever took care of it. They operated it, but ‘that’s not my department. It’s not my problem.’ I think that’s getting turned around,” he said.
Longtime council member Bill Figenshaw, who did not seek re-election for another term, said that lack of funding has been a problem. He shared part of the blame. “According to the email I read, we haven’t done anything with that pool since 1987. That’s just not acceptable. I’ve been sitting here for years, and I haven’t done anything about it,” he said. “It’s a big community asset.
You take that away from this community, and I don’t think very many people are going to come to this community. You take the swimming pool away and the golf course away, I just don’t know that you’ve got a lot to offer. Those are big assets to the community and I think you’ve got to maintain them. Where the funding comes from, I don’t know. We need to look into this, find out what needs to be done, and do it.”
“This is an important part of the community. We have to do something. The ‘bones’ of the pool are good. We have a pool that not many communities have… It brings people into our community,” Von Ahsen said.
Milligan, Lautner, an ACCO rep and city administrator Mike Palmer have since met and the matter will be on the city council agenda again Nov. 12.
