Politics & Government

Rec. Commission to Decide on Pool Fees, Hours

The commission is expected to vote on its recommendation to City Council Wednesday.

"It's the Piedmont pool for the Piedmont community and anybody else who wants to use it when there's room."

That's how Recreation Director Mark Delventhal described the mission for the municipal pool in an interview with Piedmont Patch. The challenge is coming up with a set of pool fees and hours that match that philosophy now that the city is taking over the facility after 46 years of management by the private Swim Club.

The proposal put together by Delventhal and city aquatics consultant Jeff Eorio has gone through several iterations since it was .

For the summer (July 1 - Aug. 21), recreational hours were extended to 7 p.m. daily–rec. hours would have ended at 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday under the original proposal. Rec. hours would also now start at 10 a.m. instead of 1 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Those changes calmed numerous concerns about working parents with busy kids having a chance to swim with families. But new worries cropped up about whether two designated lanes during recreational hours would be enough for lap swimmers who like to get their practice in mid day.

"A decision needs to be made whether this will be a 'recreational' pool appealing to casual, recreational swimmers, bathers, etc., or whether it will appeal also to competitive, non-high school swimmers," Jukka Valkonen posted on Piedmont Patch. "We'd need to know there are enough lanes and the lanes would be designated for ability level, i.e., fast, medium, slow."

In the most recent , daily recreational access fees were upped and a 100 percent premium added for non-resident adults in an effort to address questions about overcrowding and the of the pool. Daily access would now cost $10 for adults who live in Piedmont, $20 for adults from out of town, and $5 for kids regardless of residency. In the , kids could get in for as little as $3 and adults for as little as $5, and it didn't matter whether or not you lived in Piedmont.

But with daily access now so steep, have disputed whether the facility could still be called a "public" pool.

"There has to be a reasonable low cost option for weekend use. Piedmonters can't work all week to pay their taxes and then not be able to go to the pool on weekends," wrote Garrett Keating.

Check back with Piedmont Patch for updates on any further revisions to the proposed pool fees and hours and news of what the Recreation Commission decides at the final scheduled hearing on the issue Wednesday, May 18.

Find out what's happening in Piedmontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here