Future of River View Club?s public pool in question

KEOSAUQUA ? A meeting to gather public input on the future of the River View Country Club pool is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the club.

?We?ve given the pool Band-Aids to keep it going and now the Band-Aids are catching up,? said Richard Nichols, River View treasurer.

The pool opened Memorial Day weekend in 1970, and is in its 43rd season, Nichols said.

?Ultimately, it will need to be replaced,? he added.

In 2009, a Save the Pool fund was founded and raised $90,000 in five years to help cover maintenance and operating costs. Because of that effort, it is a public pool.

?The club currently doesn?t break even, even with the subsidy,? Nichols said. He noted the pledge drive will soon be ending.

Currently, the River View Country Club uses those pledges to pay for maintenance and labor costs to keep the pool open.

Nichols and Maggie Cocherell, who are on a committee exploring options, said maintenance costs just keep climbing. For example, in 2010, it cost approximately $18,000 in chemicals, labor and maintenance and the water.

Last year, that figure rose to more than $28,441.

The bandages helped at the time, Nichols said, ?but now they?re hindering.?

?The pool has a life expectancy, and it has reached it, probably a couple of years ago,? he said.

Sometime in the future, if nothing is done, the pool would probably close.

?The club doesn?t have the financial means, and at some point the board will have to make a decision. That?s why we want to discuss it now,? said Nichols.

Nichols also said new federal disability laws require access to the pool that it doesn?t have now. One solution might be to build a new pool and another would be to consider a major overhaul.

The Wednesday meeting, according to Cocherell and Nichols, is a way to open up the lines of communication between the public and the River View Club. The purpose is to discuss potential issues facing the pool, the future of the pool and if there was a demand to continue to have a pool here.

?We know the pool is being used, and it supplies jobs to teenagers,? Nichols said.

Cocherell pointed out the pool provides Red Cross swimming lessons and is a convenient option for parents who don?t want to drive out of the county to use a public pool. River View Country Club public pool is the only one of its kind in the county.

?I used it when I was a kid and continue to do so now,? Cocherell. ?It?s an important part of the community.?

No decisions will be made Wednesday, Nichols said, but it?s important that those interested attend.