Lap pool will open Wednesday

The Hamilton-Lowe Aquatics Center will open Wednesday for the first time this year, but swimmers will only be able to use the lap pool.

The Moscow City Council made the decision — with a 5-1 vote — to open the lap pool portion of the aquatics center at its regular council meeting Monday night at City Hall. Sandra Kelly was the lone dissenting vote.

“I think the risks are minimal under this plan, and I’m certainly willing to go for it,” Moscow Parks and Recreation Director Dwight Curtis said.

Curtis recommended the council keep the HLAC, which includes slides and other attractions, closed for the rest of the season. His alternative recommendation, which the council approved, was to only open the lap pool.

Curtis said difficulties of social distancing, wearing face masks and sanitizing at the facility; imported contagion risks and the local surge in coronavirus cases; the lack of lifeguards; and eroded enjoyment because of safety protocols that would be in place were reasons for his recommendation to keep the pool closed for the season.

He also said the University of Idaho Swim Center is open to accommodate those who want to lap swim.

The HLAC lap pool will be open in one-hour blocks from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. seven days a week until Sept. 4. Up to three swimmers will be allowed at a time in each of the six pool lanes for a maximum of 18 swimmers. It will cost $3 to enter the facility.

The facility hours could be adjusted depending on demand, Curtis said.

He said surfaces will be regularly cleaned and the locker rooms and concessions will be closed. A pool manager will oversee the coronavirus safety operations and the two family changing rooms will be open.

Curtis said social distancing will be enforced outside the water as much as possible and face coverings will be required outside the water.

He said two lifeguards, two ticket booth/cleaning employees and one pool manager will be on site during the open hours.

Councilor Art Bettge said there is a great demand for people who want to swim outdoors and that chlorine in pools kills viruses.

“I don’t see a lot of trouble with opening it, but I do see health benefits from people being out in the sun and getting exercise,” Bettge said.

Curtis said the city will determine a plan to assist lifeguards hired to work at the aquatics center this summer but never got the opportunity to work because of the facility’s closure.

Curtis told the Moscow City Council Public Works/Finance Committee last week that the city will likely — at minimum — reimburse them for lifeguard certification costs.

The aquatics center was scheduled to open July 1 with limited services and safety protocols to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but the opening was delayed until further notice because of the increase in local and statewide coronavirus cases and the difficulty in wearing masks at the HLAC.

Curtis said 42 percent of outdoor aquatics facilities and 52 percent of splash pads nationwide have remained closed as of one and a half weeks ago.

In other business, the council approved the submission of an Economic Development Administration Disaster Supplemental grant application to replace the Sixth Street bridge for a cost not to exceed $1.3 million with a required match of 20 percent, or $260,000.

The Sixth Street culvert structure near Mountain View Road sustained significant erosion damage that undermined the roadway shoulders, reducing the roadway width and significantly damaging the guardrail system from the Paradise Creek flood in April 2019.

Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.