There has been plenty of unexpected conversation regarding public pools of late, what with the Idaho Legislature surprisingly pulling the plug on the statewide program to inspect public pools across the Gem State.
While some pool operators – particularly in smaller towns or rural communities – say they’re not sure what they’ll do when the change goes into effect on July 1, officials at the City of Boise say they’re not overly worried.
“We really appreciate the work we do with Central District Health. That’s that check and balance,” said Boise Parks and Recreation Director Doug Holloway. “We feel like we maintain our pools above and beyond the highest standards of safety, and we’ll continue to do that. Nothing’s going to change on that front. What will change in the future is just having CDH coming in and confirming and affirming what we’re doing from a safety perspective. And I think that it’s not a good removal of that law or of that process; and hopefully that will be re-thought out.”
In the meantime, Holloway and his colleagues are busily preparing to open the city’s wildly popular public pools for another season.
“This year, I believe school ends on the 22nd, and we’re opening all of our pools on the 28th,” said Holloway. “And we just want those extra days to get some of the college kids that are finally back in town to get trained up and get the pools ready. Our pools are ready to go. We just need to make sure the team is ready to go.”
Holloway visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to preview the upcoming pool season and talk about how the city’s core lifeguard team tends to return year-in and year-out.
Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren
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