Let proposal float for now

City staff got an icy splash of reality when they decided to close the McIntire Park wading pool.

The public wants its pool left alone, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, Charlottesville cannot leave the pool alone. It’s the law.

Federal law requires new equipment in old pools and spas to prevent children from becoming trapped by suction drains. Children, even teens, have drowned after becoming trapped underwater by the strong vacuum effect of some drains. In some cases, suction has been so powerful that it has dismembered the trapped children’s bodies.

There is no indication that the Charlottesville park pool poses such a danger. But the law must be met — to the tune of an estimated $15,000 to $20,000.

Meanwhile, the pool almost certainly has a major leak. It holds 67,000 gallons, officials said, but last year used 275,000 gallons. Evaporation and spillage ac-count for some of that, but alone “certainly can’t account for that huge difference,” said city spokesman Ric Barrick.

Wasting water is both an environmental and an economic problem. Additional improvements to the pool are needed stop this waste — at an additional cost.

What’s more, the pool may be compromised by construction of the Meadowcreek Parkway. It seems unclear at this time whether an interchange will obliterate the pool area or simply come close enough to damage visitors’ pleasure and enjoyment. Either way, it doesn’t make sound economic sense to spend tax money repairing and upgrading a pool that soon may be paved over or abandoned by disappointed patrons.

Finally, there is this: A new family water park is coming online for Charlottesville. The Onesty Family Aquatic Center will have a spray park and wading pool, among other features, and is slated to open in June. It doesn’t make economic sense, either, to spend tens of thousands on an old pool when residents may discover they prefer the new one.

Based on economics, parks and recreation officials made the eminently logical decision to close the McIntire pool.

But residents protested, saying among other things that the decision caught them by surprise and that they had no opportunity for input. Now city councilors have opted to hear public comment and render a final decision themselves. 

Based on politics, council’s move is also eminently logical.

But what should be council’s final decision?

Here’s a possible compromise: Close the pool for now to meet federal law, but do not yet permanently abandon it.

Usually we do not recommend delaying tactics for government. But right now, too little information is available to allow council to make a fiscally sound and/or popularly accepted decision.

If the city closes the pool for a season, a clearer course may emerge.

The city may find that road construction eliminates the need for any other decision. Residents might find that they actually prefer the Onesty pool.
Yes, there is cost involved in keeping the McIntire pool empty for another year, in terms of further deterioration to the facility.

But spending tens of thousands on a facility that may be rendered useless in any case is much more costly — and perhaps needlessly so.