DORMONT POOL OPENING DISCUSSED

Cutting expenses will be elemental

Dormont Council, at its Monday work session, discussed the summer 2021 operations for Dormont Pool, which calls for the facility to open around the same time that school in the Keystone Oaks district is out for summer.

Borough administration is also recommending the pool operate at 50% capacity.

Borough manager Ben Estell and community events coordinator Bethany Bachman, who manages the pool, presented a list of recommendations to council regarding pool operations.

Dormont Pool, the largest pool in Western Pennsylvania, remained closed last summer because of COVID-19.

“We don’t need to settle everything for the 2021 season immediately,” Mr. Estell said, but some decisions need to be made to establish parameters with the borough’s contract with Jeff Ellis Management, which operates the pool.

“This is constantly a balance between keeping our visitors safe on one hand and also keeping the pool financially viable on the other hand,” Mr. Estell said.

Mr. Estell said he expects to see some increase in costs to run the pool, like having to purchase extra cleaning supplies, plexiglass barriers for the clerks, signage and barricades. He also suggested adding another clerk and cash register so there would be two lines for people to use when they are paying or using their pass to enter the pool.

The extra expenses should be around $8,000 to $10,000 for the season.

“In general, though, it’s not a matter of seeing big increased expenses as much as it is the expected decline in revenue for the pool,” Mr. Estell said.

During a typical year, Dormont spends $ 125,000 to $150,000 in taxpayer money to run the pool.

“What we’re trying to do is minimize any additional losses beyond that,” Mr. Estell said.

He said it’s likely there will be less attendance at the pool this year than in past years.

But, he added, there’s really not a way to predict how many people will utilize the pool or how much money Dormont Pool might lose this year.

Mr. Estell said if the pool has a 25% loss in attendance for this year, it would mean an additional $38,750 loss in revenue. Additionally, Mr. Estell is recommending no pool parties be allowed, which equates to another $3,500 in lost revenue. And the borough is recommending not charging its concessionaire rent, which is another $1,800.

In total, the pool could see around a $44,000 loss in revenue this year.

If the pool saw a 10% decrease in attendance, it could stand to lose about $20,000 for the season.

Additionally, the administration is recommending cutting the cost of pool passes to encourage people to use them instead of paying cash every time they come to the pool. The daily rate for the pool will be $7 per person — child or adult.

Mr. Estell said if the pool opens at 50% capacity, it would still mean about 900 people could be in the facility at one time. On a typical summer day in years past, he said, the pool doesn’t see more than 1,000 guests a day.

Additionally, the borough is recommending keeping the pool’s slide closed to save money on additional life guards and to limit people queuing in line and touching the railings.

Council is leaning toward opening the pool in mid-June to coincide with the last day of school in the Keystone Oaks district, which is June 15, and closing it when school opens again in late August.