Old issues regarding the pool re-emerge

The agenda, minutes, and bills were approved before moving on to a presentation on the Carbon County Prevention Network (CCPN) by Tracy Young.  The presentation discussed issues such as drug abuse and suicide prevention, as well as summer events the CCPN will be hosting on June 21 and 22.  

Town Hall Departments

Flooding is still a concern, with the town being on high alert.  Residents of Saratoga can request sandbags by contacting Town Hall, but will have to place the bags themselves. There are volunteers available. 

At the end of the meeting, the issue of lifeguard salary was brought up by Councilwoman Kathy Beck. She once again asked for approval on the wage increase for the lifeguards after it had been tabled in the previous meeting. Council suggested holding off on raises until the next fiscal year and an investigation into pay rates could be made. The proposed raise is one dollar an hour more for each of the three returning lifeguards.    

“We have the money in the budget.  What I’m asking for is a dollar raise for these three returning individuals for three weeks,” Beck emphasized.  “If we wait until the next meeting we may not have people to open the pool.  We need to start training.”

Mayor Chuck Davis agreed that the money was in the budget, but had concerns about continuing that wage into the next year. Beck stated that processes could be clearly defined in the next budget for assessing employee budgets across all departments. She said that while there was no change forecasted for next year, potential cuts could be discussed then.

“If we need to make cuts, we evaluate that, but we don’t start by saying we’re not going to honor something for the remainder of this fiscal year,” Beck responded.  

Davis questioned who had made the promise of the wage increase with Beck replying that it was the recreation director. While the wage increase was discussed at the end of last year’s  season, no specific approval was granted at the time. The budget for the recreation center was increased during the budget session for this fiscal year 2023.  

Beck stated the pool had difficulties with retaining lifeguards in the previous year. The budget increase would help ensure the trained lifeguards would return to work at the pool in the following year. Lifeguards are required for any activity to take place at the pool, including children’s swimming classes and water aerobics.

Beck made a motion to increase the wage of the returning lifeguards. The motion failed to get a second and was denied. The meeting was adjourned shortly after

The next town council meeting will be on June 6, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.