Council continues discussion on proposed pool admission fees

Discussion regarding daily admission and season passes for the Sidney Aquatics Center continued at the Sidney City Council's regular meeting held Tuesday night, with action tabled until the March 22 meeting to allow additional feedback from the community.

Tom Von Seggern, park superintendent for the City of Sidney, presented staff recommendation on the proposed prices to the council.

For children five years and under and seniors, the admission price is proposed at $3 daily and $45 annually. The annual amount was derived from the cost of 15 daily visits.

Youth carry a proposed daily admission price of $4 and an annual price of $60, also derived from the cost of 15 daily visits.

Adult prices are proposed at $5 for daily admission and $90 for an annual pass, derived from the cost of 18 daily visits to the aquatics center.

Last year, the prices for the Sidney public pool was 75 cents for children up to 12 years, teens and seniors were $1.25 and adults were $2, Von Seggern said.

"So this is culture shock to our community," he said. "I realized that."

For the family season pass, the annual adult pass price was doubled to $180. For the family pass, the city will define "family" as a married couple, as defined by Nebraska law, and unmarried children through the age of 18 years living in one household.

For unmarried children between 19 and 23 years of age, they can be on the family pass only if they are either a full-time college student or in the military, and must have proper identification stating such.

Foster children or other children under the legal guardianship of a parent can be added to the family pass by providing a copy of the official court documents awarding the member custody of the child.

In aquatic activities, the proposed prices are $40 for five sessions of swimming lessons, $35 flat for water aerobics fitness classes with the purchase of a season pass, with non-season passholders also charged the daily admission fee, and $125 per hour for rental of the center for parties.

Von Seggern said the council had asked previously about admission for hardship cases. He said such cases would be handled as they are by the Cheyenne County Community Center.

"The parties will be asked to write a letter to the aquatics center stating why they want the membership, how they will utilize it and how it would benefit them," Von Seggern said. "They also need to provide a free and/or reduced lunch form from the school system they attend."

As for when the aquatics center will be open, Von Seggern said because of swim team practice and swimming lessons, the morning hours will remain the same. Clean up of the pool will be from 11:30 a.m. to noon, followed by adult swim until 1 p.m.

Public swimming will be from 1-5 p.m., with a second adult swim period from 5:30-6:30 p.m. and then reopened to the public from 6:30-8 p.m.

"That'll be five nights a week," Von Seggern said. "That's what we're thinking."

Weekends will be similar to the weekday schedule, but will close after the second adult swim at 6:30 p.m.

"A lot of folks go to the lake (on weekends) and Sundays were never well attended," Von Seggern said. "People seems to find their way to other projects around the house or around the town."

Mayor Mark Nienhueser asked if 5:30-8 p.m. instead be open to the public rather than have an hour of adult swim. Von Seggern said the numbers are fluid and could change.

"We will learn a lot this year and may quickly change that if we're not getting the demand," he said.

The presentation was then opened to feedback from the audience. Charlotte Dorwart, who is involved with the Sidney swim team and the Cool Kids program, shared some concerns she has heard from families regarding the proposed prices.

"I've had to say to them, 'Those are not solid numbers,'" Dorwart said.

Dorwart said the Cool Kids program has about 150 children every summer, which they bring to the pool only once a week.

"And then I got to thinking about the day care centers, and they only come one day a week to the pool," she said. "And for a lot of our parent in Cool Kids, this price would be a hardship."

Dorwart said she has been talking with Von Seggert about the possibility that Cook Kids and the day care centers have a price that does not follow the proposed ones.

"We want the kids to go swimming, and I know the day cares want the kids to go swimming," she said. "It's just one thing to think about. There are a bunch of kids that it'd be nice if they could go, but I'm not sure what'll happen."

Nienhueser asked how it was handled in prior years. Von Seggern said the admission price was so low it was not an issue.

Dorwart said another possibility, although she has not looked into it yet, is apply for a grant through through the swim team, which is part of the National Park and Recreation Association, for the Cool Kids program.

"To get some money that we could give to the pool that will take care of us for the summer," she said.

Dorwart brought up another potential issue where staff with the day care centers and Cool Kids programs have in the past entered the pool free because they were watching the children.

"That's not been addressed, either," she said. "Just something to think about."

As far as swim team, Dorwart said they are okay with the proposed prices.

"But the swim team is also kids that would go every single day," she said. "They will come in the morning and then go back in the afternoon, so that family pass is cheap for those families. It's wonderful.

"It's the families that don't use the pool, and the day care and Cool Kids try and get them there to have a little exercise. That's where the problem is, I think."

Dorwart said the proposed reduced pricing for hardship cases might make a difference, but she is not sure.

Also discussed by the council was how swim meets and similar competitions would affect pool hours, the possibility of additional fees for non-residents, and projections on revenues and expenses for the initial season.

The council will look at the proposed pricing again at the next regular meeting, scheduled for March 22 at 7:15 p.m. at the Sidney City Hall, and asked Von Seggern to bring a proposal reducing the family season pass to $150 for comparison purposes.

"Tom's done a lot of work here with a lot of input from our consultant and folks, but there's a lot of guessing in this, no disrespect, because we haven't done this before," Nienhueser said. "We don't know how many of these we're going to sell."

The $5.4 million Sidney Aquatic Center began construction in August last year. The facility will include a lap pool, leisure pool with lazy river, a 20-foot slide, five geysers and other water features and amenities. It will also have locker rooms, a concession stand and a pump room.

If the project remains on schedule, the expected completion date is May 24 in time for Memorial Day weekend.