(file photo/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

COVID-19 protocols

Aquatic Centre capacity now up to 80; City gives update on pool numbers

Jan 31, 2021 | 1:05 PM

The City of North Battleford is reminding residents the Credit Union CUplex Battlefords CO-OP Aquatic Centre capacity restrictions recently increased. This will allow a limit of up to 80 for attendance unless otherwise specified, so more people can come to the pool.

City Parks and Recreation Director Cheryl DeNeire provided a report on the facility under the province’s COVID-19 protocols at council’s recent meeting, in response to a letter from some pool patrons concerned about hours and rates.

The facility currently operates Wednesdays to Sundays, from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.

(City of North Battleford/ Facebook)

DeNeire said the pool is actually open more hours for use than neighbouring communities in the region – Lloydminster, Meadow Lake, Kindersley, and the City of Saskatoon. She said while most of the other pools are running seven days a week, the vast majority of them are closed for large portions of each day. In comparison, the North Battleford facility offers about 40 hours per week of public swim time, “the highest in the region,” DeNeire said. The local facility is closed for only half-an-hour to an hour for cleaning required between time slots.

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Costs remain a concern. In December 2020 the pool generated just under $14,000 in revenue, while expenses came in at close to $128,000. From the expenses total, almost $69,000 was for wages.

Attendance is also an issue. DeNeire said at the time the letter from the patrons was written, the pool capacity limit was 30. It has since increased to up to 80. However, usage remains low.

“We are now allowed to have from 50 to 80 people. We are not getting anywhere near 30, let alone 50,” she said.

It would further impact the budget to try to increase hours at the facility with such low numbers, even beyond the restrictions, she said.

On the matter of rates, DeNeire said the other cities in the region are not offering a rate reduction, although they are providing less accessibility overall. The local facility’s reduced operating hours due to COVID-19 protocols do not change its expenses, especially considering revenues are significantly reduced.

“We have been able to bring down our wages, but utilities are still high, and everything else still adds up,” DeNeire said.

As a result of the findings, DeNeire recommended keeping the status quo for operating hours and rates.

“Although it is a difficult situation for some patrons, the easing of the restrictions we currently have in place, and allowing us now to use the Lazy River as well, should alleviate most of their problems. Hopefully, by June we will be up and running full time,” she said.

The city plans to write a letter in response to the patrons explaining the situation.

Mayor David Gillan told battlefordsNOW the city is trying to consider all the variables to operate the pool in a cost-effective manner, while following the province’s regulations.

“We have to work within the [Saskatchewan] Health Authority guidelines. But also we’re trying to run the facility as efficiently as possible from a cost perspective, to try to make sure that we are limiting the losses…,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, we don’t fully recover all the cost of the pool from admissions. We are just trying to balance the right amount of hours, with the restrictions, with the right amount of staff.

“So it’s a tricky balance,” he added. “It’s not easy given the restrictions. We’re just trying to balance it as best as we can.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW