Kalona pool won’t open right away

Posted 5/26/20

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced last week that public pools will be allowed to open for lessons and laps only.

However, the Kalona pool, which is operated by the Washington County YMCA, will remain …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Kalona pool won’t open right away

Posted

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced last week that public pools will be allowed to open for lessons and laps only.

However, the Kalona pool, which is operated by the Washington County YMCA, will remain closed, according to City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh.

“At this time, we would not expect the Y to open for lap swims,” Schlabaugh said Tuesday morning. “We’ll wait for the governor’s guidance on re-opening the pool. Opening just for laps is not conducive.”

Prior to the governor’s announcement, Kalona City Council members and Washington County YMCA CEO Amy Schulte had a lengthy discussion about proposals to open the pool at the May 18 council meeting.

“There are a lot of communities that have pretty much closed their pools for the summer,” Schlabaugh said. “I’d rather give it a try and see if we can socially responsibly manage it.”

Schulte outlined a plan that would give priority to those who live in the 52247 zip code.

Only those living in the 52247 zip code would be allowed to purchase season passes or 10-visit punch cards.

“How we serve the communities that the pools are located in and make sure the residents of those communities have access,” Schulte asked. “This is a lot different from anything we’ve done before. We’ve never asked for addresses or locations or restricted that way.

“The reason for doing it is to serve the community that the pool was intended for first and foremost.”

Schlabaugh called it a “Kalona first” proposal.

“We look to our closest residents within our corporate limits to be able to provide that service to them,” Schlabaugh said. “They’re the ones who support this pool on a yearly basis, and they’re the ones who paid for the pool through their property tax.”

Schulte added that a punch card can only be used by members of that person’s family.

Council member Hank Beitsheim asked about the YMCA’s refund policy.

“What happens if we sell a lot of season passes, and there’s a major surge in illness from the virus and you’re forced to shut it down?” Beisheim asked.

“We’ve never issued refunds for memberships,” Schulte responded. “It’s just not something we do. Obviously, that’s something we’d have to evaluate if, two weeks in, we have to shut down.

“That might be an argument to not sell passes and just sell punch cards and daily passes.”

Schulte said that, in an effort to keep capacity down, the pool would operate in two shifts.

“We would definitely set a capacity much lower than we have seen in the past,” she said. “We would close for a half an hour each day to cleaning and sanitation.”

Laps and lessons would be done in the morning. The first shift would run from 1-4 p.m., after which the pool would be closed for cleaning.

It would re-open at 4:30 p.m. and be open until 7:30 p.m.

Council member Greg Schmidt questioned whether a pass would be good for both shifts.

“You don’t want people monopolizing the pool all day during this particular summer,” Schlabaugh responded.

Schmidt then suggested passes be labeled as “sectional passes.”

Other restrictions include no unsupervised children under 12, no outside food and drinks, and no outside pool toys.

The YMCA will have a staff member, in addition to the lifeguard, to monitor the pool deck to make sure people are following pool rules regarding social distancing.

Schlabaugh said that they are looking at adding prominent signage clearly stating the rules.

The consensus of the council was to move forward with the plan as presented.

“I think this is a good start, but I think we need to continue to evaluate it as we go and possibly modify it as necessary,” Schmidt said.