Council approves pre-season lap swim, nonresident child fees and school reimbursement plan for Calistoga pool

The Calistoga City Council approved staff recommendations to allow pre-season lap swim at the city pool during the high school team’s practice period, to set pre-season lap swim drop-in fees for adults and seniors, and to establish a drop-in fee for nonresident children.

Parks & Recreation Director Rachel Melick said staff negotiated shared use with the school and recommended charging $8 for adult pre-season lap swim and $6 for seniors, and instituting a $6 drop-in fee for nonresident children (age 17 and under). Melick also proposed that the school district be charged 50% of the actual operating costs for the pre-season period and that the city reimburse the district from collected drop-in fees, less an administrative fee set by staff.

Council members supported the three-part approach. Mayor Williams proposed a mechanism whereby the school would be charged the estimated operating cost (projected about $11,200 in the staff presentation) and then reimbursed proportionally from drop-in revenue so the city would not incur a shortfall if public demand was lower than anticipated. Council directed staff to determine an appropriate administrative fee and to implement the reimbursement approach. Council approved items 2 and 3 (rates and nonresident child drop-in fee) and then approved the staff direction for the school subsidy and reimbursement mechanism on voice votes.

What it means: Residents asked for earlier lap-swim access and council framed the change as a modest revenue and access improvement that can help pool operations remain more self-sustaining while subsidizing school use. Staff will return with administrative-fee details and implementation procedures.

At the meeting Rachel Melick summarized the operational rationale: “We are recommending implementing a drop in fee for non resident children ages 17 and under,” and explained the school would pay a share of utilities, maintenance and staffing costs for the pre-season window. Council members suggested a small administrative charge be retained to cover processing and extra staffing time.