Seniors Request Extended Trenton City Pool Season For 2025

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

The August 12 meeting of the City of Trenton Board of Commissioners quickly covered Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) expenditures and department reports before a group of senior citizens expressed their desire for a longer pool season and another citizen requested reports be made about animals housed in the city’s animal control facility.

Monda Wooten (street commissioner) was absent due to a family emergency.

The Trenton Police Department requested SPLOST funds to purchase a shipping container that will replace the department’s rotting firing range deck. The container will double as the deck and extra storage space. The lowest bid was for $2,800 from Container Canopies, and Mike Wooten’s wrecker service volunteered to deliver the container for free. The commission approved this expense.

The commission looked at three bids for paving quotes to match the Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG). Alex Case (mayor) explained that the city must match 30 percent of the grant. The city is planning to pave several portions of city roads, patch some spots, and raise up sunken/covered manhole covers.

Case recommended the middle bid for $199,850 from Weeks Paving, explaining that the company they hired last year (Kissner Paving) did unsatisfactory work, so he recommended the “middle of the road” bid. The commission approved the Weeks Paving bid.

The last SPLOST item approved was $50,000 requested by the Industrial Development Authority to go toward paving Vanguard Drive and Highlands Industrial Drive. The IDA and the county are funding the rest of the paving expense.

Case also brought up continued flooring replacement in City Hall as a discussion item. Replacing the carpet in the meeting room with new flooring would cost about $7,064, and Case would like the commission to consider the project as funds are available.

Mike Norris (police commissioner) read the police report. In July, the Trenton Police Department answered 226 calls for service, conducted 1,419 business checks, completed eight welfare checks, responded to six domestic disturbance calls, four suspicious activity calls, and three animal complaints, and worked 17 traffic crashes. From 92 traffic stops, 79 citations were issued.

During his report, Terry Powell (parks and animal control commissioner) thanked Case, Audray Luck, Ronnie Page, and Keith Bethune for helping with an adoption day at Tractor Supply Co. The two puppies and two dogs that were in the city’s pound were all adopted on that day. He said, “Ronnie took the dogs to Monda’s group…They were spayed and neutered…Keith took the animals and washed them.”

Lucretia Houts (fire and utility commissioner) reported that the Trenton Fire Department answered 126 calls in July, 11 of which were fire related and 57 of which were canceled en route.

Case read the street report in place of Monda, encouraging citizens to call in (as they have been doing) about potholes, clogged ditches, or other street department issues. He noted that citizens and businesses have been spraying Roundup in ditches which is killing the grass and causing runoff issues. “The Environmental Protection Division has come down on several folks in the area for doing this…That grass holds that stability and keeps it from washing out.”

During the Dade County Public Library report, Lydia Soucy (library manager) noted a new app called The Palace Project that brings eRead Kids, Libby, and ProQuest into one app and includes classic titles that aren’t available through Libby.

The library also has a new government benefits self-service kiosk where guests can renew, change, and review Medicaid, PeachCare for Kids, SNAP, TANF, and more.

Soucy also reported that 326 people participated in the summer reading program, 98 completed the entire competition, and participants logged a total of 207,203 reading minutes.

During Citizens Participation, Deborah Miller spoke on behalf of seniors who enjoy the senior swim time at the Trenton City Pool and would like to see next year’s pool season extended through at least part of August.

About ten people attended the meeting and explained why they value the pool because it’s an exercise option that’s easy on joints and aids in post-surgery recovery. They approached the city now so that next year’s budget could be established with an extended pool season in mind.

Miller explained that the group has spoken with Powell and Page about barriers to extending the season but neither Powell nor Page could give them an estimate of what it would cost to extend the season. Powell explained that the primary barrier is finding lifeguards (not only for August, but also for the rest of the summer) even though the city is paying over $15/hour.

Case later added that salaries and insurance are the biggest expenses, but concession sales and entrance fees typically bring in enough to cover this portion. Other expenses include chlorine and pool maintenance.

Miller handed out a list of suggestions to address the increased expense and lifeguard shortage. The seniors added that they are willing to pay to use the pool. Currently, they can access the pool during the senior swim hour for free, but once kids go back to school, the paying customers disappear.

Some of their suggestions were written as follows:

• Open senior swim hour to all adults and charge fee
• Increase entrance fee and/or charge more for snacks/drinks
• Fundraise or solicit donations
• Provide Red Cross swim lessons and lifeguard training and charge fee
• Rotate schedule so the person collecting admission and selling snacks is also lifeguard certified
• Borrow lifeguards from Lafayette since that pool stays open till September 1

Conversation also turned to swimming lessons, with Page explaining the history of the YMCA offering swim lessons in Trenton but eventually ending that due to low interest.

Powell and Case said they like the suggestions, and the seniors added that they are happy to do whatever is needed to help make this a reality. Miller asked about next steps and timeline, and Case said the commission can plan for an extended season in the budget, and the focus will then be on finding lifeguards. He added that even if full-time hours aren’t a possibility, perhaps a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule will be possible.

John Huffman also spoke during Citizens Participation, asking about animals at the city’s pound and why these animals are not included in Powell’s monthly report or available on the city’s website. He said, “What can we do to get the number of animals and the type of animals that you have in there as part of your report?”

Powell did not directly answer Huffman’s question but said that Page posts about the animals online. Huffman noted that “online” is Facebook, not the city’s website or official meetings.

The discussion turned into a broader conversation about the need for animal control in the county and what is currently being done (with a number of the other guests pitching in) before it returned to Huffman’s original question. Powell and Case explained the limits of what the city is able to do but how they also work with rescue groups to avoid euthanizing animals as much as possible.

Returning to his original question, John reiterated, “My point was specifically, can we see more of Trenton government taking ownership of that building and what happens inside of it and then letting the public know about that somehow?”

Page said that April Keith (city clerk) puts information about the animals on the city website, but only for the animals that are available for adoption. Case explained that the city’s website was recently updated and they’re working on adding a section for the animal control facility.

Lastly during Citizens Participation, a woman representing the liquor stores asked for an update on the Sunday liquor sales ordinance. Case reported that the attorney is currently in the process of rewriting the ordinance.

Norris briefly mentioned the police department’s desire to add two new officer positions. He cited increased traffic as the reason more officers are necessary, and he wanted his fellow commissioners to think about the expense. He said, “Our residents and our businesses are not growing that much, but our traffic problem is.”

Case said this would be an item for a future workshop session, but Norris can speak with the commissioners one-on-one in the meantime.