Some public pools will remain open

Dig out your swim trunks.

The city of North Las Vegas will open two of its four public pools this summer for open swim.

That means jobs, too.

The Parks and Recreation Department is one of the city's largest employers for teens during the summer.

At a special March 16 meeting, the City Council unanimously approved open swim sessions three days a week at Hartke and Silver Mesa pools.

Councilman William Robinson was absent.

The council also waived the city's hiring freeze to fill necessary positions. The department will re appropriate department general fund cost savings to pay to keep the pools open, which means no new funding is needed.

The four-hour open swim sessions will be Friday through Sunday and last for nine weeks from June to August. There will be no change to the current fees. Admission to Hartke, 1638 N. Bruce St., will remain free. To swim at Silver Mesa, 4025 Allen Lane, will cost $3 for adults and $2 for children.

It will cost $72,000 for 6,400 hours of seasonal, part-time staff, supplies and services.

Kim Leavitt, the city's recreation supervisor, said Silver Mesa is expected to generate $24,300 in revenue for the estimated 9,720 swimmers.

"Because the timing falls over two fiscal years, we might be a little tight," Leavitt told the council. "We may have to cut into some other programs (later on)."

In February, city officials voted to raise aquatic fees for group lessons, swim team, private lessons, lifeguard training and water safety instruction to cope with budget cuts.

The general fund aquatic budget was previously reduced by more than 50 percent, or $550,000, leaving the department $482,000 for facility maintenance and operation of the city's four public pools.

Swim team prices are now $100, up from $40. The seven-week program price includes all staff costs, including meets, but does not cover a T-shirt or a swim cap. Group swim lessons were raised to $35 from their previous $25. Lifeguard training is now $105, a $5 increase from last year. The fee includes certification, kit and pocket mask. Students are required to purchase the book. Other program costs also were raised.

Last year, the city shut down the Hartke and Petitti pools. Silver Mesa saw an increase of 5,000 open swim participants from 2009 to 2010. Walker Pool lost about 900 participants. Despite the closures, the city lost only about 150 swimmers, from 34,997 in 2009 to 34,821 the following year.

The Walker pool, 1509 June Ave., is under renovation and will stay open for swim teams. There will be no open swim. The Pettiti pool, 2505 N. Bruce St., will be closed for the second year.

The last time all four of the city's public pools were open was 2009.

During the regular 6 p.m. meeting, the City Council declared April 1 as April Pools Day in recognition of the importance of drowning prevention and awareness education.

On average, eight children have drowned in Southern Nevada each year over the past 10 years. There are more than 101,000 backyard swimming pools in the region.

"We need to get the message out and try to save some lives this summer," Buck said.

Capt. Cedric Williams, North Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman, said there was one drowning in the city last year.

"We won't be finished until we make sure it doesn't happen," Williams said.

Contact Downtown and North Las Vegas View reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@viewnews.com or 383-0492.