Prices set, heater decision tabled

Schedule, prices and pay are in place for the coming season at the water park.

A decision on adding a heater to the pool will wait.

Portland Park Board on Tuesday set opening day, prices and pay rates for staff for Portland Water Park but tabled a discussion of adding a heater to the pool to gather more information about long-term costs.

Rural Portland resident and Jay County Summer Swim Team coach Bev Arnold visited the park board late last year to advocate for installing a heater to the pool at Portland Water Park. She committed to raising the funds to cover the estimated $40,000 to $60,000 cost.

Park board members Brian Ison, John McFarland, Shauna Runkle, Michael Brewster and Jennifer Weitzel reviewed a couple of options — one from JRT Pools at a total cost of $47,724 for a until with an expected lifespan of three to five years and another from SPEAR Corporation for $67,808 with a projected lifespan of seven to 10 years — during Tuesday’s meeting.

Rob Weaver, who would also be involved in the fundraising process, asked what it would take to make the project a reality.

“If you just tell us what you need, we’ll find it for you,” he said, adding later that having water at a comfortable temperature throughout the season would likely increase attendance and thus admission fees collected. (Water temperatures were regularly in the 60s last year for the first half of the water park’s season.)

Park board members expressed concern about the uncertainty of the additional costs that would be incurred to operate the heater. (Street and parks department superintendent Matt Shawver said he received a rough estimate of between $15 and $30 per hour.)

Doing some rough math, Runkle noted that if the heater was running 24 hours a day for a month, the cost would come out to $18,000.

Weaver again asked for a fundraising number that would make the park board comfortable, offering to try to bring in additional funding to help cover the cost of operating the heater.

Runkle said she would love to have the pool heated, but being able to cover operational costs is the main issue.

“We’re spending taxpayers’ money,” she said. “I know you’re going to fund it but in the long run we have to fund the rest of it. … There’s utilities and stuff that we have to look at. … It’s not that we don’t want to do it, it’s how do we do it and make sure it’s taken care of.”

Park board members agreed to research the issue further, with Shauver and parks manager Ronnie Reynolds planning to visit other heated pools in the area.

The board also approved water park admission fees for 2024 as follows:

•Daily admission — $5 before 5 p.m. and $3 after 5 p.m.; $3 for senior citizens (62 and older) and veterans; $2 for children 2 and younger

•10-day pass — $50

•Annual passes — $75 for one person with a $50 increase for each person in the same family up to $325 for a family of six or more. (Prices in 2023 started at $75 and ranged up to $200 for a family of six or more.)

•Pool rentals — $125 per hour (up from $75 per hour last year) plus the cost of lifeguards.

It also set hourly pay rates at $13 for concession workers and $14 for guards, with increases of 25 cents for each year of consecutive service. Manager pay was set at $18.50 per hour for the second year of service, with assistant manager pay at $15 per hour.

The board scheduled opening day for Saturday, May 25. It will set closing day based on the availability of staff.

Also Tuesday, the board OK’d the installation of a fence around the new pickleball courts at Milton Miller Park for $14,740. The city will put in a sidewalk connecting the courts to the parking lot and a former concession stand that will be utilized for storage. The concessions stand building will also get a new roof and other repairs for $1,900.

In other business, the board:

•Heard from Shauver that plans are to begin opening park restrooms beginning with Weiler-Wilson Park and Hudson Family Park during the last week of June.

•Approved Jay County Law Enforcement Camp to utilize Portland Water Park from 7 to 9 p.m. June 18. The board will cover the cost of rental and lifeguards.

•Approved the following: purchase of two mowers from K&L Tractor of Fort Recovery for $15.780; the installation of several new security cameras at Hudson Family Park by NuWave Technology of Coldwater, Ohio, for $9,903; and putting two new cornhole courts in place of existing horseshoe pits at Haynes Park.

•Heard new parks manager Ronnie Reynolds has completed his commercial driver’s license training.