By DELANIA TRIGG, Register Staff Writer
Gainesville Daily Register
Gainesville — Gainesville residents will have a municipal swimming pool at least one more year after City Council members voted to open the Leonard Park pool this summer. But the council decided against spending an additional $77,000 for repairs to the 60-year-old facility. The discussion of closing the pool was one aspect of Tuesday night’s City Council meeting which included talk about how to continue city services with a rapidly shrinking budget. Declining sales tax revenues are the heart of the problem, according to City Manager Barry Sullivan. “The city has been getting sales (tax) that is greatly reduced...That (sales tax) is the single highest revenue for our general fund,” said Sullivan. Sales tax money is down 31 percent compared to last year, he noted, attributing the decline to what many consider the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression. “We’re going to have to amend the budget,” Sullivan said. That means making budget cuts wherever possible, he added. One area in which the city has experienced no dramatic changes is in its labor force. Sullivan said he’s proud of the fact that the city hasn’t begun laying off workers. “No one has actually lost their job and remained unemployed,” he said. Labor is the city’s number one expenditure. The cost of paying its employees amounts to around 70 percent of the city’s budget. “That is our highest cost,” Sullivan told the Council. At the same time, the city is faced with a $1.1 million budget shortfall this fiscal year. Budget cuts are essential, he said. Among the departments slated to face cuts in funding are the municipal golf course and the Frank Buck Zoo. To make up for the cuts, Sullivan noted that money from the city’s hotel/motel taxes can be funneled into entities such as the zoo. The possibility of closing the municipal pool this year was one of Sullivan’s suggestions for saving the city money. He told the Council the city could save $109,000 if the pool does not open this year. The facility needs some repairs which would cost about $66,000 while the pool is expected to bring in just $27,000 in revenue during its normal operating season which lasts about two and half months. However, Sullivan told the council the city can also choose to open the pool without the repairs and wait to see if the old equipment functions as it should. Both Sullivan and Parks and Recreation Director Patrick McCage admit the pool could use some work. The circulation motor is “18 years old and past its life expectancy,” McCage told the Council. Even the sand in the filtration system has been around for years and should be replaced, he said. But the pool might still be operable even without the repairs, McCage said. Maintaining the public swimming pool is a fairly costly endeavor that requires around $70,000 per year. That funding provides things such as salaries for pool staff, purification products and employee training. However, the initial cost of preparing the pool area for opening day is fairly low — just $2,500 annually to repaint pool surfaces, McCage said. Several council members spoke in favor of keeping the pool open including Councilman Charles Draper who said he’d vote to “roll the dice” and open the pool again this year. “It’s a quality-of-life issue,” Draper said. Councilwoman Beverly Snuggs and Councilwoman Carolyn Hendricks agreed. “I think the pool is a very necessary thing,” Snuggs said, adding the pool is important to many residents including local children and seniors who use the pool for exercise and recreation. In addition to talk about the pool, the council voted to authorize the city manager to execute release of liens against properties to be sold at the Cooke County sheriff’s auction in April. The council also voted to appoint a presiding judge and alternate judge for the May 8 general and special elections. City Secretary Kay Lunnon told the Council that Charles Woolfolk and Jane Dudley have agreed to be the judge and alternate election judge during the election. The council also voted to establish a pay rate of $10 and $8 per hour for the election judge and election workers. Although they did not address the Council during the meeting, Police Chief Steven Fleming and Sgt. Bobby Balthrop were on hand to give city officials and members of the press their first look at the department’s new patrol vehicle — a Chevrolet SUV purchased from Holiday Chevrolet of Whitesboro. The vehicle’s first day of service was Tuesday. Look for more information on the new police vehicle in this week’s Register.
