Pool not opening this summer
due to compliance issues
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
MARS HILL — Community members in Mars Hill, Blaine and Bridgewater will have to find another way to beat the heat as a dip in the Mars Hill Swimming Pool, located on ACI Street behind the town’s Community Center, is not an option this summer.
According to Town Manager Karin Petrin, the decision to not open the pool was made after a resident brought it to council’s attention June 17 that there were compliance issues pertaining to the “State of Maine Rules Relating to Public Pools and Spas.”
“I immediately said, ‘Wow. We’re scheduled to open June 24. Let me make some phone calls and do some homework and see what we can do,’” said Petrin. “I wanted to see what we could do to get into compliance and correct any deficiencies moving forward.
“What I discovered was that in 2010, the state said, ‘We need to put together some licensing requirements for pools.’ They never notified anybody of the legislation, so nobody knew. Then the inspectors started showing up,” she said. “I spoke with our local inspector to find out what we needed to have and the big things were that we needed to get registered, which could be done over the phone. Then we needed to hire a certified pool operator (CPO) for the installation of the chemicals into the pool.”
Additional research found that the town was in violation of the Virginia Graeme Baker (VGB) Pool and Spa Safety Act, which was enacted in 2008 to prevent the hazard of drain entrapments and eviscerations in pools and spas. Under the law, all public pools and spas must have compliant drain covers installed and a second anti-entrapment system installed, when there is a single main drain or multiple drains set less than 3 feet apart.
“After an inspection by a CPO in Houlton and talking to South Shore Gunite Pools & Spas, Inc. in Massachusetts to get more information, I was hopeful,” Petrin said, “so I contacted the Town Councilors to see if I could proceed if I stayed within the $3,000 budget which is the amount that’s scheduled annually for the repairs of the pool. I was told that I could, so I had our recreation director send South Shore Gunite pictures of our pool and they later determined it was in need of major renovations.”
One of the main issues is that the gutter was never properly installed and — as a result — has rotted out underneath.
“What that means is that the deck is hitting the gutter during the winter because there’s no expansion joint. Essentially the water is not staying in the pool and the water level doesn’t reach the gutter tray so it’s not using the filtration system properly,” said Petrin. “We’re also not VGB compliant, and there are steep fines and penalties involved if somebody got hurt.”
Because the pool is not VGB compliant, the decision was made to not open it this summer, and roll the $3,000 budgeted for maintenance over to next year’s budget.
“There’s also things like wages to consider, so by not opening this year, we can roll about $11,000 over to next year,” said Petrin. “When you add it altogether — including next year’s $3,000 for maintenance — we should have about $14,000 to do some of the necessary repairs and bring us into compliance.
“We’re also going to look at some grant funding and the possibility of collaborating with some community partners,” she said. “Aside from the money, it was a time issue. The pool is only open for six weeks in the summer and it would have taken a lot longer than that to get the work done.”
Petrin said she’s hopeful community members will be able to swim locally next year.
“There’s legitimate issues here and people in town are understanding of that,” she said, “but I will do everything in my power to make sure that kids have some place to swim next summer.”
Beginning July 17 and running for the remainder of this swimming season, the Mars Hill Rec Department has arranged a bus that will take local children to the Presque Isle Indoor Pool for general swims Wednesdays and Fridays. The bus will leave from the Community Center on ACI Street at 12:30 p.m. to swim from 1-2:45 p.m. and return to the Community Center at 3:20 p.m. Cost for the swim is $1.
