Pool investigation freezes

Questions about the Cunningham Park pool will remain unanswered until the Spring.The Town of Mountain City has been investigating the pool since August to determine why it leaks 750,000 gallons of water a month. There seem to be two options left: water could be leaking out of its skimmer baskets and/or the pump house.Parks and Recreation Director Kenneth Dickens announced earlier this month that the pool's pump broke. Neither option can be tested until it's repaired.Repairs won't be complete until freezing weather sets in, and the town can't have water in the pool when it's freezing. Therefore, no more testing will happen until winter has passed, City Recorder Audra Gerty announced during the Recreation Advisory Board's Tuesday, Nov. 24 meeting.This means if the source is discovered in Spring, the town would have a narrow window of time to fix it before the pool's summer season begins."As soon as weather permits, we'll have to jump on it to determine if we're going to be able to open it or not," Mayor Jerry Jordan said.The board would like to get formal estimates on how much a splash pad in Ralph Stout Park would cost."I think…we ought to be going forward with a splash pad, regardless of what the pool does," Board Chair Eric Gorman said.The board must request that the City Council pay for an estimate."Once we have a quote and we know what the design is…we can then start to go out for grants and donations," Eric Gorman said.The cost of a splash pad will likely fall between $250,000 and $350,000, Gerty said.The board hopes the county will help pay for the splash pad. The board would also like to start coordinating with the county more in general."I would like to see us — town, county, Hometown [Service Coalition], other organizations — kind of have common goals and work together instead of being fragmented," board member Joey Beth Souder said.Toward this goal, the board agreed to ask the Johnson County Parks and Recreation Committee if any of their members would like to join the board. The board has one vacant seat.The Johnson County Parks and Recreation Committee has four members, according to the Johnson County website. All of them are County Commissioners: Lester Dunn, Jerry Gentry, Jimmy Lowe and Kody Norris.The board discussed ideas to spend a public recreation grant it plans on applying for. Ideas suggested include:Repairing the walkway around Ralph Stout ParkPaving the gravel parts of the Ralph Stout Park playground parking lotRepairing cracks in the Cunningham Park pickleball courtsReplacing the pickleball courts's fencing and lightsReplacing the exterior doors of the Cunningham Park's bathroomsPutting lids on both parks' trash cans to prevent crows from picking up and scattering trash