On Tuesday night the Manhattan city commission heard a report on the state of the public pool system.
Parks and Recreation Director Edward Eastes reported record attendance at the pools in 2014 with the total reaching 131, 876. However, revenues for the pool system fell, and if operations continue the city subsidy for the system is forecast to rise to $295,607. Officials cited a number of reasons for the rise of operation costs in 2014, which included a longer operational run from 2013.
Several options were presented in the session to raise revenues, and included a proposal for a new pool pass with an individual photo identification for each attendee. Full recovery of operational costs from special rentals seemed to gather unanimous support from the commission. One of the problems within the budget included older passes which were still unused, and added up to around $40,000. The commission worked with city officials, and agreed those passes would be null and void after the 2015 season.
During the briefing a community member and several commissioners called for longer operations, but were advised by park and recreation department officials that the related cost would be prohibitive due to loss of regular lifeguards due to the reopening of schools earlier in the season.
The commission closed the session after directing city staff to prepare different pass options, and further recommendations for pool operations.
