Pool to cost users more — but revenue won’t save it in long run

Published 12:01 am Thursday, October 23, 2008

PORT ANGELES — Fees will increase at the William Shore Memorial Pool on Nov. 1 in the hopes that it can stay open longer than this year.

But one City Council member who voted against the increase said it could promote “false hope” that the pool could remain available past this coming spring.

The City Council voted 5-2 for the fee increases, which average about 31.5 percent, on Tuesday night.

Council members Larry Williams and Karen Rogers voted against the higher fees.

Admission passes for adults will increase from $3.75 to $4 a day. For children, disabled and seniors, day passes will increase from $2.50 to $3 a day. Only locker rentals will not be affected.

The fees were proposed by the city staff.

The City Council said at a Sept. 24 work session on the preliminary 2009 budget that the pool will close on Dec. 31 unless a firm plan is in place to fund its expenses. The facility will close after March 31 if the plan doesn’t meet that goal.

Williams said he voted against the fee increases because they should be part of a larger plan to save the pool which hasn’t been created yet.

“We need one big plan rather than piecemeal this thing together,” he said.

“It would take a 400 percent increase to save the pool. I’m not in the business of giving people false hope.”

The pool currently generates about $120,000 a year in revenue. Its annual expenses are approximately $500,000.

Glenn Cutler, public works director, said the city would receive an additional $60,000 a year in revenue through the fee increases. He said that doesn’t include any estimates for a decrease in attendance from higher costs.

Richard Bonine, deputy parks director, has said the fee increases are not intended to bridge the gap in revenue entirely.

Council member Betsy Wharton motioned to waive a second reading of the ordinance, which was passed in a 5-2 vote.

“I don’t like to push things along quickly,” she said.

“But I think it’s important to move.”

Council member Don Perry said that none of the council members wants the pool to close, and he sees the fee increases as a means to offset some of the pool’s expenses.

Pool needs help

But he said the city can’t save the pool alone and needs the help of others in the community, including the Save the Pool PA group.

“The city is in the same position as a lot of people in terms of money,” he said. “We need your help.

“We don’t have the money in the budget, and it is as simple as that.”

Bonine has said that city officials are speaking with the Port Angeles School District, Clallam County government and the Friends of the Pool Foundation about forming partnerships to fund the rest of the pool’s operations.

The city also is looking for grant funding, he said.

Krista Winn, Save the Pool PA steering committee chairwoman, has said she is supportive of the fee increases, and that a survey the group completed last week shows that other pool users are in support of higher fees as well if it helps keep the facility open.

According to the survey, about 56 percent of city residents and 51 percent of county residents who participated in the survey would support fee increases of 25 percent or more.

Winn, who is also a physical education teacher at Hamilton Elementary School, said 193 people participated in the survey.

It was distributed at community pool meetings, swim meets and lessons, swim clubs, as well as at the Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival and downtown, she said.

A public comment period before the vote saw both support and opposition to the increases.

Questioned logic

Pat Gilbert of Port Angeles questioned the logic of increasing fees on a facility that is expected to close.

“You say this is an appropriate increase,” he said. “Then you’ve got something else will happen in March.”

Scott Moore, of Port Angeles, said that if an increase is necessary, he will do his part by paying it.

“Times are tough,” he said.

“But if we need to pay more in user fees, I’ll scrimp and save and try to do it.”

Charles LeBer of Port Angeles urged the city to enter into a partnership with the Coast Guard as a means to bridge the gap in revenue and expenses.

Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles uses the pool for training.

“The people who use the pool can least afford to pay the increase,” LeBer said.

“This is not a town that can really afford much.”

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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.