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The city’s two pools will not open this summer due to safety and operations concerns leaving 210 children without a place to swim, officials said Thursday night.
Mayor Patrick Madden’s administration is working with 20 organizations in the city to develop alternative summer programs, but the city has no funds budgeted for summer youth programs, Deputy Mayor Monics Jurzejeski said.
“There will be kiddie pools on the sidewalks,” Nora McDowell, a resident, warned.
Madden eliminated the funding to operate the pools in his proposed 2017 city budget of $72.3 million. The money for youth programs was eliminated as the City Council and mayor further cut spending reaching a city budget of $69.9 million to limit the tax hike to 14.55 percent down from 28.2 percent.
“What do we need to get the pools open by July 2017?” asked Councilman Jim Gulli, chairman of the City Council’s General Services Committee.
The answer from Kurzejeski and George Rogers, the parks and recreation director, was nothing would lead to either the Knickerbacker Park Pool or the South Troy Pool opening for a traditional six-week summer season.
It would cost about $530,000 or $265,000 per park to repair the filter system and the pool swimming area, Kurzejeski told the nine City Council members and 40 city residents at the Lansingburgh Boys and Girls Club.
“We always said the pools would not open this summer,” the deputy mayor said. “There are a lot of concerns with safety.”
“We’re going to have 210 kids with nothing to do,” Councilman Mark McGrath said.
The two pools attract about that many users each day, Rogers said.
Both pools have been set open with extensive patchwork repairs to deal with problems. Kurzejeski said various city departments will meet in March to determine how to proceed with the pool situation and may consider construction of a new pool. She said an outside firm would have to be hired to provide the expertise for determining what to do.
The city will continue its meetings with agencies such as the Lansingburgh and Troy Boys and Girls Clubs, the Lansingburgh and Troy City school districts, the Troy Housing Authority, to determine what recreational opportunities can be offered. There’s also a need to continue the summer food programs for city children that were provided at the pools.
kcrowe@timesunion.com • 518-454-5084 • @KennethCrowe
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