Arcadia eliminates early lap swimming

To this dismay of some of its fans, the city of Arcadia eliminated early-morning lap swims in the city pool because of the difficulty finding lifeguards.

“There are 200 years of lap swimmers among us,” said Michelle Ziegeweid. “We’re all taxpayers, some of us put money into the pool when it was built. I don’t see anything in this that is making me comfortable.”

Rather than 6:30 a.m., the city has proposed the lap swimmers arrive at noon or use the pool from 6 to 7 p.m. The swimmers in attendance at last Wednesday council meeting said those options were undesirable.

“Six o’clock is the dinner hour,” Ziegeweid, “and some of us just can’t out there in the middle of the day.”

“This is another level of loss,” said Shelley Sorenson.

City administrator Chad Hawkins said the city is struggling to find lifeguards and having one present early in the morning makes it difficult to have a sufficient number later in the day.

“It comes down to the use of limited staff,” Hawkins said. “We’re just going to have to make some concessions.”

Swimmer Beth Killian wondered if the group, which numbers on average four, could swim without a lifeguard. She even suggested the swimmers could sign a waiver of liability, something that would not in fact reduce the city’s responsibility. The swimmers also debated having one of their group become a lifeguard, but that person could then not swim.

“We’re not taking anything away,” Hawkins said. “We’re just changing the hours.” 

The council also approved pool fees for the year, including bumping to $1 what was previously a free admission for those over 65.

The council also took steps that could shape how big a role the city plays in new development by agreeing to put in the 2023 budget money for a sidewalk extension from the new El Dorado multi-family development but then tabling whether to build a city street on a parcel of donated land.

The sidewalk project would extend by another 1,200 feet a stretch of sidewalk along Blaschko to be built by the El Dorado developers. The roughly $30,910 cost will be included in next year’s budget, the council decided.

Kay Sobotta had proposed to dedicate a stretch of land to the city in exchange for the city installing and maintaining North Sobotta Court. 

“I think we could be opening a can of worms,” said council member Joe Feltes who cautioned other developers would then look to the city for street construction. City clerk Angela Berg noted that how much city money is invested in a development is usually negotiated.

City staff was asked to get estimates for what it might cost to install security cameras at city parks. Arcadia resident Luis Cruz requested the cameras for Schank Park specifically, but council member Dan Sonsalla noted that all city parks have a vandalism problem. Hawkins said that the city might be able to reuse cameras that once monitored the former city hall. The city will also have to identify how to access the camera data.

In other action:

• Hawkins encouraged members to use their official city email addresses rather than personal email for city business. He said official email communications would provide continuity for new council members and not subject personal accounts to freedom of information requests.

• Heard that Julie Hurlburt has resigned from the council.