Stuebe said the city made the decision to not reopen the pool mainly from challenges associated with hiring and training lifeguards. Last summer, the Humble pool opened May 11 and remained open through the beginning of September, according to the city's website.
"It's just too much of a burden at this point in time," he said.
In an early May interview, Stuebe said city officials were considering cutting expenditures to make up for sales tax revenue losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak. However, Stuebe said via email on May 27 that although keeping the pool closed will save the city roughly $65,000-$70,000, the decision was based mostly on the availability of lifeguards.
The city of Humble's sales tax revenue took a 19% hit year over year in March, and officials are expecting April revenue to dip even lower. Sales tax data for April will be released by the Texas Comptroller's Office in June.
While the pool will remain closed for the 2020 season, the city tentatively plans to relaunch its summer concert series outdoors at Uptown Park in June, Stuebe said at the BizCom meeting. The summer concert series, which typically takes place at the Charles Bender Performing Arts Center, is set to kick off with a free show from Divisi Strings at 7 p.m. June 27, according to the performing arts center's website.
"If we get to a point where we can operate the Bender at a certain capacity, that's great," he said. "But I want to see how this outdoor concert series goes. ... So we're trying to do those things and be innovative so that we can try to bring some fun back to everybody."
