Pool manager reports great start for this season
Reesa Rice, the manager at the Honey Lake Valley Community Pool reported more than 200 swimmers have signed up for swimming lessons so far this year — doubling the number of swimming lessons given last year.
Rice made the announcement during the Honey Lake Valley Recreation Authority’s Tuesday, May 21 meeting.
“We’ve sold more than 200 swim lessons to date,” Rice told the board. “That’s double what we had last year.”
She said she looked at the agenda for last year’s May meeting and noticed she reported 100 swim lessons sold.
“That’s pretty exciting because the word’s gotten out there and I think it will continue to get out there and continue to grow, and we’ll have continual sign-ups all through the summer,” Rice said.
Rice also told the board what’s been going on at the pool since it opened for the season April 29.
“We had great attendance in all our classes the first week of opening,” Rice said. “They all had high attendance.”
Prior to opening, Rice said the new CO2 system had been installed and is working as it should. The new system provides chlorination for the pool.
“We haven’t had any hiccups in the system at all, and it seems to be balancing the pool really well,” Rice said.
Rice also said pool staff is now certified to train lifeguards at the pool, and seven new lifeguards have been certified to work at the pool, and they’re now going through the hiring process with the city. She said the pool also recertified five returning employees as well. In fact, pool staff even trained some lifeguards who plan to work at the pool in Herlong.
“The pool is well staffed, and we’re looking forward to a great summer season,” Rice said.
Plans to add grass to the area along South Street are moving forward, more shady tables have been added for the swimmers and improvements have been made to the locker rooms, Rice told the board.
During the meeting, the board also approved the minutes from its April 4 and April 29 meetings.
Dan Newton, the board’s executive officer, provided a financial report through May 10. Newton told the board so far the pool is operating under budget.
The board took no action as the report was for information only.
The board approved a payment of $13,616.38 to the city to reimburse it for administrative, management and operational services already provided. The payment included $1,444.82 for administrative services, $11,625.87 for pool employees and $545.70 for publications. The board approved the expenditure by a 4-0 vote.
The board also approved revisions to the 2018/2019 budget line items because some items were budgeted too high and some were budgeted too low.
The revisions included an increase to the county allocation, and increase to communications a decrease to natural gas, an increase to geothermal, an increase to capital improvements (turf area) and a decrease to staffing (pool employees).
Newton told the board despite the revisions, the overall budget would remain the same. The board approved the changes by a 4-0 vote.
In addition, the board approved contracts governing the Lassen Community College Adaptive Physical Education agreement and the Lassen High School Swim Team agreement.
Under the LCC agreement, the price per student per semester would increase to $40 from $24 per student. The pool would add a $25 per week facility charge to the agreement.
“Certain aspects of the agreement such as specific dates and times have been purposely left obscure to be decided between the pool manager and the instructor prior to the start of each season,” the agreement reads. “This will allow for an ongoing agreement past the 2019 pool season.”
Under the LHS Swim Team agreement, the base price has been raised to $1,500 per month from $1,200 per month, and a facility use charge of $25 per week also was added. This contract also provided that dates and times could be negotiated.
The authority’s next regularly scheduled meeting will be held at 3 pm. June 18.