The background
Public Works Director Kelly Cowan told City Council on Jan. 16 that the city’s parks and recreation commission recently recommended no longer requiring pool users to wear a wristband, as currently needed per a city ordinance.
Specifically, Cowan said commission members and some residents who have used the pool have expressed a desire to not always wear a wristband while inside the fenced area surrounding the pool.
Parks and Recreation Commission members, instead, proposed pool users to simply show their wristband upon entry and have it in their possession while inside the fenced area.
According to Cowan, some pool users have complained that people do not like wearing wristbands and that kids tend to lose their wristband.
Cowan said, thus far, the parks and recreation commission is recommending no changes to current pool security protocols or visitor requirements for the 2024 swim season.
What they’re saying
Mayor Sean Moore said, if council were to approve nixing the wristband-wearing rule, the city would be relaxing an enforcement mechanism.
“What goes away is a security guard walking around the pool, checking people for their wristband,” Moore said.
Council members Glenna Pearce and Dale Randol voiced concerns about not requiring pool users to wear their wristband the whole time they are inside the fenced area surrounding the pool.
Pearce said the wristband rule and other regulations were implemented at the Voigt Park pool due to residents’ complaints about large, unruly crowds who had gathered there in previous years.
“If nobody has a wristband, we lose control at the pool,” Randol said.
After further discussion, council members directed city attorney Ryan Henry to draft various revisions of an amended pool use ordinance and bring them back to council, giving council options regarding the potential wristband rule change.
