I just wanted to touch base with the newspaper and the public regarding the article that discussed the city purchasing the swimming pool.
As a long time pool board member (I believe I can speak for prior members here) I want to make sure that the public knows that the city is inheriting far more responsibilities than what the article alluded to. There was a lot more going on behind the scenes that the pool board members did than simply “hiring guards”.
Yes, the city has done more in past few years with pump maintenance for sure, and the payroll for the pool was run through the city for complicated reasons that I don’t need to bore people with here. The city also donated water and made up for the difference at the end of the year when we ran in the red, but the pool board did so much more than hiring guards.
The pool board members put in countless hours of unpaid time making sure the guards kept paperwork and certifications current, filing paperwork with the state to keep in compliance, keeping up on the rules for guards and when and where training sessions were for WSI, fundraising for projects like the new liner that was installed a few years ago and the fence and new concrete we had poured last year, setting up and organizing the annual pool auction, including hauling load after load of stuff from people’s houses to the auction, writing grants for projects including the gazebo in the baby pool area, painting in the bathhouse, sending out mailers at the beginning of the year so parents knew when swimming lessons were, brainstorming on what to do to make the pool better and more fun, etc.
Doug Grimsrud alone put in at least 10-15 hours every spring pumping out the bottom of the deep end and shoveling leaves and debris that had collected there into 5 gallon buckets and hoisting them out to be dumped.
There are too many other things to mention that we collectively did as a board to even list, (I’ll kick myself later) and too many people to thank for all the time, effort and money they have put toward the pool over the years, and we were all happy and proud to do it. Pools are not a money-making business and we worked together with the city to make a great swimming pool for the people and at the same time help alleviate some of the burden on taxpayers. I know that the article was not intended to trivialize what the boards have done over the years but I would hope that the public realizes that we did far more than “hire guards” and let the city do the rest.
-Markell Gnadt
