Comments on: McKoy Pool To Remain Open On Weekdays in August

By: Kara Campbell

Kara Campbell — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 22:53:15 +0000

LOVE this change — thank you!

By: "Naaman" Gibbets

"Naaman" Gibbets — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:33:46 +0000

What, you mean it actually costs money to keep pools open? I for one am shocked.

Some people just need to complain, and good on ya, Jabari, for a job well done.

By: cubalibre

cubalibre — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:11:18 +0000

Mr. Cole, props to you for responding– I daresay most cities’ officials wouldn’t have even bothered.

By: Jabari Cole

Jabari Cole — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:48:43 +0000

It is evident from this discussion that my decision to keep McKoy pool open in the mornings has caused some citizens to feel left out. In February, there was a massive email campaign sponsored by some mothers that live in the McKoy area, urging me to do whatever I could do to provide them with some morning weekday hours at McKoy Pool. This campaign lasted through the month of June until I was able to work out a deal with our pool management company to staff the pool while still staying within the budget that was approved by the City Commission. I am not aware of any promises that were made about Glenlake Pool last year because I have only been in this position since February. The decisions that I made were in response to comments and concerns that were brought to my attention by your fellow citizens. I feel it is a bit unfair to be so disappointed with Decatur Active Living when the requests to keep Glenlake Pool open or to have McKoy open in the afternoons are new to me. The pool season has traditionally followed the City of Decatur schools calendar and I must admit that I did not forsee all of the problems that closing our pools at the beginning of August would create. I assure all of you who use City of Decatur pools that based on this years response, the Active Living Department will do everything possible to make sure that the pools do not close in the beginning of August next season. However, our current pool contract makes keeping Glenlake open during the week impossible. We strive to offer the citizens of Decatur top notch customer service and I apologize to all of you who have been disappointed by length of the 2010 pool season.

By: karass

karass — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:57:42 +0000

Nope. It gets hard to explain to elementary school kids. You tell them that June 21 is the beginning of the season of summer but, on that date, their summer vacation is already half over. Their “summer vacation” ends 7 weeks before the end of summer! Since the rest of the country outside of the Southeast has school summer vacations that run from late June to Labor Day, the super early school start date puts the kibosh on a lot of family reunion, camp and academic opportunities that occur outside of this region.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:31:13 +0000

Schools really go back on AUGUST 2? You have got to be kidding.

By: nelliebelle1197

nelliebelle1197 — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:02:31 +0000

Which is actually worse. Instead of figuring out which hours of opening benefit the most people in the city, and choosing those hours, the rec center simply responded to a very small section – and a very, very few voices- of complaint. The center actually promised last year to keep the pools open longer this year. What they actually did was CUT the hours.

I don’t even swim. We use the pools a few times for the baby to float. That’s actually not the point. The real point is use of public resources. We poured millions into developing resources that are available less and less to the public each year. It is absolutely absurd for the city to develop these pools then not keep them open for a decent amount of time each summer. It renders the resource wasted and the value of the resource relative to its use is negated. It’s absolutely absurd for the city to cater to a tiny segment of the population in keeping one pool open. It doesn’t matter who whined. If the city is going to make this resource available, then the pool should be open after school so the most children & adults benefit, period. The toddler parents can use the pool from 9-1 or from 2-6. It’s irrelevant on that point, frankly, since if you go during the week, the busy times are the afternoons after nap anyway.

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:50:46 +0000

Well we don’t actually use City of Decatur pools, so I don’t really have a horse in the race. My only point is that people seem to be making it into a “why are they getting something we don’t get?” thing, when in fact it’s a “squeaky wheel gets the grease” thing. I think it was actually really responsive of Decatur Rec to change the schedule as they did. So if you have hot buttons, go take it up with Decatur Rec, but don’t blame the people who thought to ask for what they wanted and happened to get it.