By: Shar Dimick
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
In a unanimous vote Wauseon City Council approved the first reading of a measure establishing that if a new pool is built that it will be located in Reighard Park at their January 19 meeting.
Resolution 2015-01 replaced a motion approved April 23, 2012 that would have placed the pool at Dorothy B. Biddle Park instead. At that time the council vote was a 3-3 tie with former Mayor Doug Shaw casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of Dorothy B. Biddle Park.
The new resolution concurs with the results of a survey that Council authorized in September 2014 that went out in the water bills of approximately 3000 citizens and available on the City website until October 31. The results of that survey overwhelmingly showed that citizens preferred Reighard Park (541) to Dorothy B. Biddle Park (159) for the location of a new pool. Reighard Park was location of the original 70-year old pool that closed in 2009 due to deteriorating conditions. The old pool house still stands at that location, which an Astro Pool representative told Council at a previous meeting would make construction at Reighard Park cheaper.
The survey also polled whether citizens were still interested in the construction of a new pool that has an estimated cost of at least $1 million. In response, residents do indeed support building a new community pool with 655 in favor to 70 against. 90 residents said they’d use a new pool daily while 289 said they’d use it weekly and 127 would use it monthly. When it came to funding the building of a new pool, 644 respondents indicated that the pool should be financed through private donations, 591 by federal or state grants, 555 by user fees and 329 by tax revenue.
Councilor Shane Chamberlin reported at the meeting on behalf of the Park Board that the majority of the Park Board members still strongly feel the pool should be built at Biddle Park despite the survey results and the Building and Grounds committee recommendation for the Reighard Park location.
Shar may be reached at
publisher@thevillagereporter.com