It’s been a months-long unknown, but the Rushford council decided, in a 4:1 vote June 8, to open the pool later this summer. Until now, COVID-19 restrictions put in place under Governor Tim Walz’s orders had prevented it. The big questions now are when will opening day be and how will the city manage the new Stay Safe MN restrictions put in place by the governor.
As of June 10, Phase III modifications allow for the opening of pools at a capacity of 50% and with six feet of social distancing maintained throughout facilities. “It’s not just like turning on a faucet,” said Councilor Sally Ryman. The plan includes detailed instructions for keeping the water chemically balanced, minimizing the use of heaters, and reducing the speed of circulation pumps. Rushford’s Public Works will have to work through any new requirements and quickly.
It typically takes 30 days for Public Works to go through the steps getting the pool ready to open. That puts opening at sometime in early to mid July and that’s only if restrictions aren’t tightened back up by the state. “We haven’t had this opportunity. It wasn’t really in our hands until Friday,” stressed City Administrator Tony Chladek. “It’s information that was just like new and we’re playing with information we just got. Regardless of how quickly we want it open, it’s gonna take 30 days.”
Getting the pool ready to open is really just the start of an uphill climb. Likely open just 30-45 days, limited by bad weather, incidents causing closure, and work staff timelines, the city will have a slew of additional things to put in place. “There are a significant amount of limiting factors,” added Chladek.
One of these issues is the capacity threshold. The pool’s limit is normally 240. This puts 2020 capacity at just 120 patrons. “We’ve had a lot of pressure from the outside for folks wanting to use our pool,” continued Chladek. “I’m trying to give you big pieces now for consideration — who are you going to let in, how are you going to enforce? Based on limitations, we may be turning people away because of capacities and if that happens there’s going to be more calls than you’re already getting now to open it. That’s just the tee off for additional details for discussion.”
In addition to capacity, the city must adhere to social distancing in the pool and on the deck. “I don’t know how you execute that,” said Mayor Terri Benson. It was further noted that executing restrictions is a heap of responsibility for lifeguards not trained to maintain the new state rules.
“The city is going to be held responsible for following COVID rules,” said Ryman. “God forbid some kid ends up sick because we have someone asymptomatic in the pool. We have to be very strict in our enforcement of policy and procedures. We’re responsible for that.”
Councilor Leigh Volkman noted the increasing number of kids, younger and younger, cooling off in Rush Creek and questioned whether the city would mow areas or post lifeguards there for safety. Clerk Zacher maintained that the Department of Natural Resources is the managing party for local waters. “I don’t know that we have the authority to open it to the public and provide some protection for it. If we put city paid staff there, that puts a whole different expectation on it,” she cautioned. It was later added that the city is only licensed to monitor its own properties.
“You go swimming, you swim at your own risk. It’s up to parents to set guidelines. If they’re not followed, we can’t control that,” responded Councilor Jim O’Donnell.
“We aren’t inundated with COVID and I’d like to keep it that way. I have concerns for the safety of our community,” said Benson, bringing the conversation back around. “My position is an analytical one. There is going to be a financial cost to this. In 30 days this whole thing could change and we don’t have access to the pool. Restrictions could come back on. It could also open up where it’s not limited. I agree that there is a safety issue here. I’m just concerned about the execution. I have big, big concerns there. Getting ready to open is the easy part.”
The city spent $61,723 for pool operations in 2019. The estimated cost to get the pool up and running for the remainder of the season is $20,000-30,000. Roughly half of that is wages. Without swimming lessons, it’s likely that offering open swim for reduced capacities will end up costing the city $16,000-20,000 this year.
As for enforcement dynamics, the city will be considering how to limit capacities fairly and who will be in charge of admitting users and maintaining protocols. Suggestions included limiting users to just 55971 (Rushford) and 55962 (Peterson) zip codes and the hiring of an individual strictly for enforcing Stay Safe MN guidelines. Further discussion is expected at the next council meeting.
Discussion also briefly included whether or not to open city park playgrounds. With Phase III, some outdoor spaces are now open. It was noted that the impression will be that playgrounds come under the June 10 openings. However, the city does not have a safe way to clean equipment between users. “We don’t have a cleaning process. I want people to know that,” cautioned Benson.
“It’s at your own risk,” added Chladek. The city will be placing signs at city parks noting such.
In other news, the city approved the annual library report presented by Library Director Beth Nelson. Visitors in 2019 were up. $93,070 was taken in through operating revenue and $165,615 was the total expenses. Since the pandemic start and facility closing, the library has worked on a number of interior projects. Curbside pickups began April 15 with 88 for the month, increasing to 169 pick-ups in May. June 1 the library opened by appointment only and to date has had three computer appointments and 17 other appointments. “Usages are up. People are utilizing our materials,” noted Nelson.
“It’s a vital piece of our community,” added Benson.
The fire department request for the hiring of five applicants was also approved. Currently, there are just three openings, but at least two members of the volunteer department are retiring at the end of the year. New members are Josh Brown, Tucker Eide, Dakota Larimer, Trey Ritter, and Lukas Rasmussen.
“We will need to hire more next year, I think we’re gonna be short,” noted Fire Chief Chad Rasmussen. “None of these guys can do anything until they’ve taken the classes. They’re gonna have their hands full for two years just to get it done.”
Lastly, the council approved a recommendation by engineer Matt Wagner, of Mead & Hunt, regarding awarding of two bids for two projects at the municipal airport. There are sufficient National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems funds to cover the projects. One is an airfield pavement improvement project, while the other is an electrical vault project which came about following a fire at the airport last October.
“The key aspects are these are totally funded by the federal government. This is just putting us in a position to get them funded,” said Chladek. If the city doesn’t receive federal funding, things may be scaled back to just one project for now.
The next regularly scheduled council meeting is Monday, June 22, at 6:30 p.m. At this time, it’s unclear whether it will be held virtually or in person. Persons interested in attending should contact city hall.
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