Gym and pool to change hours

Parks officials will move ahead with hours changes for the community gym and pool facility.

A sparsely attended May 7 public hearing drew only a Sentinel reporter, though

officials say they have received mostly positive feedback on the proposed hours changes from the community. The proposed changes would open the facility from 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.,

re-opening at 3:30 p.m., and closing at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Friday it will close at 8:30 p.m.. Saturday’s hours will be 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.. The schedule adds two hours overall recreation time and strives to create a more uniform set of hours for the facility.

Parks and Recreation Director Amber Al-Haddad told the parks and recreation

advisory committee that, per a discussion with borough manager Jeff Jabusch, she was able to move ahead with the hours changes without an approval vote from the borough assembly.

The committee also

discussed budgets, though as an advisory committee the

discussion was informational and required no votes.

“Our (projected) budget looks very similar to what our current budget looks like,” she said.

Among the largest changes is a triple increase in the

line-item cost for the swimming pool’s chemical budget, sparked in part because the pool is losing water, requiring

additional chemicals to maintain a suitable pH balance for pool users, Al-Haddad told the board.

“The other big thing in the budget is our chemicals to our pool,” she said. “We have some issues at the pool. We’re losing water somehow, and we’re not sure where it is. We’ve isolated as much of the system in parts as we can.”

The department intends to use part of a $35,000 capital

improvements grant from the list to conduct an engineering study in order to figure out where the missing pool water has gone, Al-Haddad told the committee.

“Unless the governor vetoes that, we will see that project happen,” she said.

Structural engineers,

electrical engineers and

architects will examine the swimming pool, and will

evaluate the cause of the disappearing pool water, Al-Haddad said.

In other business, the department will also pursue Federal Land Access Program funds for two projects in and around Wrangell, particularly safety-oriented improvements in the area of Shoemaker Park and the Institute Creek Trail, which is in the proximity of federal land. The projects were similar to projects recently approved for similar funding on Prince of Wales Island, Al-Haddad said.