Decatur Pools Make A Little Money for a Second Straight Year
Decatur Metro | September 5, 2012Not a ton of money, but considering that most city pools lose money, it’s a reportable feat.
Asst. City Manager Lyn Menne provided this info at the end of the Decatur City Commission meeting last night.
With the Decatur pool season closed as of Labor Day, the final numbers showed that the City of Decatur made roughly $2,000 off its pool facilities again this year, with revenue of $169,500 and pool contracting fees totaling $167,600.
Also of interest according to the report, 70% of pool users this year were residents vs 30% non-residents.
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Maybe hot water and stall doors can be added at Ebster’s bath house.
Concession stand would be a nice addition and extra revenue
as long as they don’t sell chocolate milk
I don’t think anything sold in a pool concession stand would pass muster.
I disagree. I’ll bet they’d go through plenty of mustard. And I relish the prospect of a Chick-fil-a concession debate.
+1
Nope, they used to offer concessions at Glenlake and kids would be puking in the pool every day. I believe they stopped selling concessions because of this problem. I don’t know if the problem is better now.
Best argument I’ve heard for no concession stand!
Also, the Baby Ruth problem…
It’s no big deal (eats candy bar) . . .
I vote for more shade at Ebster and Glen Lake. Umbrellas in stands is probably the most versatile and cheapest way to do it.
Whole-heartedly second this! I’ll chip in extra for shade at Glen Lake.
Let me get this straight. A government-run facility provided a good service (this is based on the complaints in the comments – no concession stand/yes, used to have them and the theft alone would have put the pools in the red; and not enough shade. Come on people – you can do better than this) and kept the operating budget in the black!!!!! Shouldn’t this be on the front page of some major publication? Way to go City of Decatur Dept of Active Living!
I don’t believe these qualify as complaints in either tone or content. They were suggestions on how to use the $2,000 earned by the pools. Most folks hold COD Active Living aka Decatur Rec in very high regard. They have mastered the art of listening to their constituents and responding in reasonable ways.
Well, it was a string of comments consisting of “gimme” this and that, and smartass remarks, with nary a word of appreciation for the efficiency and hard work. Maybe nobody was complaining, exactly, but there was a certain absence of graciousness in the tone.
There were three suggestions made for the use of the $2,000 or at least that’s how I read it:
– Maybe hot water and stall doors can be added at Ebster’s bath house.
-Concession stand would be a nice addition and extra revenue
-I vote for more shade at Ebster and Glen Lake. Umbrellas in stands is probably the most versatile and cheapest way to do it.
Those all look like reasonable suggestions to me although responders had a good answer for why the second might not be such a good idea. Venetian Pools asks for suggestions from its members all the time so I’m often thinking along those lines. Now there were all sorts of humorous suggestions comments made in response to the three suggestions but isn’t that what happens on DM?
Certainly I was not complaining. I’ve always thought that shade would be a nice touch at the city pools and inspire more hanging out and chatting with neighbors vs. swim and run before one is broiled. I think Moms of little ones would love it instead of having to drape towels over strollers or carriers to make shade. And haven’t we had plenty of posts in the past about the hours/length of seasons of the pools, the plus/minuses of the McKoy Park pool design, etc. The problem with blogs is the same problem with emails–you can’t hear the tone of voice or see the expression of the person posting so their intent is not is not always evident. Often the intent is more benign that it comes off as being.
I wasn’t aware that the City was soliciting suggestions for what to do with the money. The way I read the original post, staff advised the Commission that the pools came out in the black by a couple of grand this year. I think that is commendable. I find it disappointing–yet utterly predictable–that a dozen comments went by before somebody thought to say, “Great job!”
Meanwhile, I was in no way commenting about the particular suggestions that were made, although if I were, my comment would be, “It’s the city pool, not a country club.” I sincerely hope the City hangs onto that $2k against the day that a pump breaks down or a tree falls on a fence or basic safety equipment needs to be replaced.
Dear City of Decatur,
I am so sorry that I have not been complimentary enough. You are great at communication, getting community feedback, and trying to do the best for your citizens. All elected government entities around here should learn from you. I’ve taken Decatur 101, volunteered for lots of things, and complimented you lots of times on this blog in the past but I forgot to do it adequately before making a suggestion this time. Mea culpa. You do not have to buy umbrellas for shade if you don’t want to but I have one at home and it is very sturdy. This sort of umbrella lasts about 10 years with constant outdoor storage, probably longer if you stored it inside but I am too lazy to do that. All you would need is about 5 umbrellas per pool to make a huge difference in the shade content. If you get dark green, they will fit in well with grass and trees and not look too country clubby. But if you need the $2,000 for something else more urgent, I understand. Even though I am a long-time member of Venetian Pools, since way before it got so pricey and country clubby and you couldn’t get your initial membership fee reimbursed anymore, I hang out at city pools a lot too to join neighbors or for birthday parties. I enjoy them a lot but wish there was more shade. The concrete areas around pools get real hot on sunny days without some shade.
Thanks, sorry, and great job!
This could get interesting…..
is this a government run facility? Are they not run by a private firm that is hired by the city?
Yes
I’m glad they finished the season in the black. Good job on somebody’s part — the contractor and/or whoever among the City staff is responsible for overseeing the contractor’s performance. Congratulations and let’s do it again next year!
Don’t much care whether or not they sell refreshments at the pools, but in light of the fact that kids have been eating junk food at the swimming pool for generations (since I was a young’un and we had to watch for dinosaurs in the deep end), I’m appalled to hear of this puking problem. How much were those children eating?!?
Not selling food at the pools also cuts down on trash in and around the pool. People generally bring their own snacks, so kids are still eating at the pool, hopefully just not as much junk.
I think they should sell beer!
If they did the umbrellas could be free from the distributor. It is a win, win!
I know I’m conservative, but I would suggest that Decatur keep the $2,000 in an account in case there is an operating shortfall for the pools in future years. As a business person, I like the idea of re-investing the profits into something that could create a new line of revenue, like concessions. As for the pool “contamination” caused by the temporal relation between eating and swimming, we could do what the YMCA does and fine people who cause the problem.
Two year olds don’t tend to have much cash flow.