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Canal Winchester council debates restricting pool access; leaves rates unchanged
Summary
Councilmembers and staff debated proposals to restrict pool access to city residents or school-district residents after complaints of crowding and annual operating losses. Council did not change fees and removed the item from old business pending more data and staff work.
Councilmembers debated whether to restrict access to Canal Winchester’s municipal pool to city residents — or to city and Canal Winchester school-district residents — but did not adopt new rules or raise fees at the March 17 meeting.
The discussion, prompted by Councilmember Shea and public comment about crowding and the city subsidizing nonresidents, centered on logistics, revenue and staffing. Finance Director Amanda Jackson and city staff warned that stricter residency rules would be difficult to enforce at the gate and could deepen an already sizable operating loss.
At the meeting Councilmember Shea said: "I'd like us to run a pool for the residents of Canal Winchester." He argued that the municipal facility is paid for by city taxpayers and should primarily serve them. Councilmember Moore cautioned that restricting access could worsen the pool’s financial picture: "I think we lost close to $80,000 on the pool last year," he said, adding that more than half the revenues last year came from day passes. A public commenter during the meeting urged season passes be restricted to residents and Canal Winchester school families and recommended day passes be limited to city residents.
Amanda Jackson, the finance director, told council she preferred publishing membership information by April and noted operational limits at the gate: "We don't do resident, nonresident for day passes." Staff and council members repeatedly raised practical enforcement concerns, including asking teenage gate attendants to verify residency and dealing with blended-family situations. Staff also said the city plans to hire adult security or pool staff this season (this would be the third year for that arrangement).
After discussion there was no ordinance or vote changing pool rules. Multiple councilmembers said they were not in favor of raising fees; the chair removed the item (OTH 24-009) from the old-business list so staff can continue to prepare data and registration details. Council asked staff to return with statistics on day-pass users and residency breakdowns and to publish membership information soon so the public can plan.
The pool will open under current rules for the 2025 season; staff said they would continue membership drives and consider technological or procedural changes to make residency checks easier if needed.
