Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Decatur’s council nixes pool opening
DECATUR — Using all the safety protocols from Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas Municipal League, the City Council gathered both in person and via the internet for its meeting.
While Decatur’s mayor, Bob Tharp, the city clerk, Kim Wilkins, and council members Sandy Duncan, Danny Harrington and James Jessen gathered in the conference room at city hall May 11, council members Ladale Clayton, Linda Martin, City Attorney Michael Nutt and Fire Chief Jeremy Luker joined in via Zoom. James Boston and Police Chief Steve Grizzle waited in the hall outside of the conference room until called in by Tharp.
The council addressed the questions about park use and opening the Old City Park pool. As of the meeting date, the parks are open. However, public buildings such as the “Bunker” at Veterans Park as well as pavilions at Royce Johnson and Old City Park remain closed, as do all of the play equipment, benches and other facilities, including the disc golf course at Veterans Park.
All facilities at Edmiston Park, including the concession stand and restroom, will remain closed as well. All of the closings will be reviewed again during the June meeting.
The question of opening the pool was discussed at length. The council voted to close the pool until 2021.
“We feel like we could not control social distancing without hiring additional personnel,” said Tharp. “Currently, the pool is on an annual basis. With the number of certified lifeguards, we are simply losing money, sometimes as much as $10,000. This is not a new problem for the city of Decatur.
We believe this is a public service but, in years past, former mayor Charles Linam decided to close the pool for a year because of economics.”
Over the past few years, the city spent money to renovate the buildings and the pool for safety. The mayor and coucil decided to leave the admission price the same to help low-income families enjoy this facility.
But times have changed so drastically over the last three months, it forced the council into the decision to curtail the operation of the facility. “With the pandemic in place and not knowing what is going to happen in the next few weeks, the council decided to close it,” Tharp said.
The council appointed a temporary replacement for Robin Holt, who resigned her seat March 19.
Since each seat on the City Council is up for re-election in November, the Ward 1 Position 2, seat vacated by Holt, was filled by appointing Randy Boone.
“We appreciate Randy stepping forward and accepting the leadership role in the city government,” Tharp said. “Previous to serving on the Decatur City Council, Randy served on the Decatur Planning and Zoning Commission, so he’s no stranger to city government. He will continue to serve on the planning board as a member and also as the council representative replacing Jessen, who stepped aside as the council representative on the board.”
The council only allows resident comments via email. Any resident wishing to bring an issue or concern to the council can do so through the city clerk’s office at (479) 7523912, Option 4.