Pool's future up in the air

At last week's Malta City Council Meeting, it was announced that the City's Pool – which is 60-years-old --- is suffering from boiler and clarity issues and could be shut down for good as early as next year.

"We may not be able to open it next year," Malta Mayor Shyla Jones informed the Board.

Mayor Jones said that two week's ago, a state inspector came to look at the pool and the boiler at the facility failed inspection. She said that because of the extreme use of chemicals to keep the pool clean, those chemicals have started to eat away at the boiler's heat exchanger. Malta Public Works Director Jim Truelove told the council that a replacement part for the boiler sells for roughly $4,300 and the cost doesn't include labor.

Mayor Jones said many plumbers have been contacted about fixing the boiler – both locally and from surrounding cities – but because of the boiler's age, none thus far have been willing to take on the job.

"The future of the pool is uncertain," she added, saying currently, the boiler is temporarily not running and the pool is unheated. "It is really in need of major repairs."

Director Truelove was told by the state inspector that even if the boiler is fixed, there is a good chance that more parts will start breaking down in the pool's lines.

"I've checked around with (towns) who have built new pools and the pools they were replacing were only in their 50's," Mayor Jones said. "The question becomes, do you keep fixing the problem with a band aid?"

Mayor Jones said that last Monday was the first time swimmers have been able to swim in the deep end of the pool because of clarity issues in that end of the pool because of filter problems in conjunction with the pool's age issues.

During the council meeting, Mayor Jones said that there may be a need to cut the time that Malta Swim Team spends practicing in the pool down to two hours per day because of the clarity issues. On Friday, Mayor Jones told the PCN she met with swim team leadership and it was decided that the team would have their practice hours cut by only one hour per day as the clarity problems seemed to have cleared up some since the meeting.

"There weren't as many kids in the pool this week because it was so cold," she said. "When it warms up, we will see if the issue isn't as bad as we thought and adjust accordingly."

Mayor Jones added that the new Malta Swim Team practice will be held from 9 a.m. until noon with the public swim starting at 1 p.m.

"(The swim team's) big concern was they wanted to know if they would have to cancel Divisionals, which we absolutely don't want to do, and we are almost positive that we wouldn't have to."

The Malta Swim team will host the Divisional Meet next month on Friday and Saturday, July 23 and 24.

During the Council meeting, Mayor Jones said she anticipates future public meetings concerning what to do about the pool's problems. She added that in about 2011, the City of Malta approached the Phillips County Commissioners about the possibility of building a new community pool but the City of Malta was told they wouldn't be able to propose a tax increase county wide to pay for the project.

"We will hold public meeting to see what the needs of the city are," she said. "We can ask if people think we need another swimming pool and if so, how are we going to fund it or do we look at putting the money into splash parks or into our parks and equipment."

As for public meetings, the City of Malta will be holding several of them concerning rate increases in water, garbage and landfill on Tuesday, June 28 starting at 6 p.m.