Thursday was the night for people in Antigo hoping for answers on the future of the Clara R. McKenna Aquatic Center. A sub-committee board meeting provided new direction and a chance for the community to hear from its leaders.
From the start, the district made it clear of what transpired prior to this point, claiming that school dollars in Fund 10 was paying more for the pool than state statutes say it should have been. Because of this, the district then redirected those funds to Fund 80, and Fund 80 has since been in and out of a deficit.
“All of sudden we have an $88,000 deficit, and I think that’s where the community is getting hung up on. Why do we have a deficit when we were at 0,” said Daniel Nicholson, board member.
The first order of business Thursday was to discuss community activities in the pool. Mike Parisek made a motion to keep community activities open as long as the foundation can give the $150,000 by September 21.
Finance Director Kelly Fassbender pushed back saying that won’t help much.
“That will maybe break you even, but that’s not going to get you through September,” said Kelly Fassbender, Finance Director.
That motion passed 6-3.
Another issue is that the pool cannot remain open without lifeguards, which the district does not have after the contract with YMCA was terminated. Plus, a previous motion in March stated that only Fund 80 could fund operations and maintenance of the aquatic center.
Randy Meyers motioned to rescind that rule, which passed 5-4.
With that, the board voted on a motion to open the aquatic center for students, athletes, coaches, and employees who use the pool, effective immediately. With the administration using all resources available to them out of Fund 10 and maintenance personnel to maintain pool temperature.
That passed 5-4 as well.
While this is a win for those hoping to have the pool open, it doesn't address the long-term financial problems the pool is facing. Board members Jill Nelson and Kristen Mattmiller even said the city and county should step up and help with funding.
Water treatment and proper temperature levels needs to be configured first, but the pool is now open to swim teams and community effective immediately. Funds from the foundation are still required. We will let you know if anything changes.
