Dozens of New Carlisle residents appealed to the City Council to keep the city pool running and to develop a long-term plan for replacement or renovation; the council voted to restore $150,000 to the pool budget while it pursues community input and a multi-step planning process.

Public comments at the meeting emphasized swim lessons, water-safety training, youth jobs and community cohesion. “The pool is primary and often only accessible location for swim lessons and water safety training for children and adults in our area,” said Emily Seymour, a New Carlisle resident who noted swim lessons taught her children life-saving skills. Missy Carnes, who identified herself as a lifelong New Carlisle resident, urged the council to pursue a management partnership to keep operations running: “I would like to use them for 2026, and you guys can continue thinking on the future of the pool, but we need the pool,” she said.

Speakers described the pool as a multi-generational hub that provides jobs to teenagers and a venue for the local summer swim team. Several commenters said closing the pool would push families to travel longer distances for lessons or lead people to swim in unsupervised places such as rivers and ponds. “If even one kid drowns in the river this summer because they’re there instead of the pool, it’s not worth the loss of life,” said one speaker who had experience at a county where pool closures preceded a rise in unsupervised water activity.

City Manager Hall (newly appointed this year) described the financial and structural factors the administration is weighing. Hall said maintenance and repair needs are long‑standing and the pool — built more than 60 years ago — needs “major repairs.” He said the city’s fiscal plan anticipates new residential development, with added tax revenue expected only after several tax seasons; meanwhile the city is facing a tight 2026 budget. Hall proposed temporarily closing the pool gates for one year while performing maintenance to avoid further infrastructure damage and told residents he wanted to form a strategic team to pursue options and outside partnerships.

Finance Director Harris provided the council and public with the city’s pool financial figures cited during the meeting: the city reported approximately $90,000 in a dedicated pool fund balance, said the pool’s annual deficit has averaged roughly $40,000 in recent years, and that total pool expenditures were about $150,000 this year while revenues were roughly $108,000. Harris and the city manager described a constrained funding position: grants often require local matching contributions and enterprise‑fund rules limit unrestricted transfers; the city’s administration said it could not commit large, ongoing general-fund transfers without a longer-term plan.

After extensive public comment and council discussion, Council voted to reinsert $150,000 into the draft 2026 budget earmarked for the pool so the city could keep the option open to operate the facility next season while a parks-and-recreation advisory group and a community working team develop a plan. The motion to restore the $150,000 passed unanimously in roll call: Councilwoman Wright — yes; Councilman Lindsay — yes; Vice Mayor Eggleston — yes; Mayor Cook — yes; Councilwoman Grove — yes; Councilman Vaughn — yes; Councilman Sheena — yes. The restored funds will remain in place pending further community planning; council members said the money would not be spent unless a decision is made to open the pool.

Council also set a town-hall meeting to focus on the pool and related parks issues on November 3 (the council described the session as fulfilling the charter-required town-hall requirement). The council said it would stand up a Parks and Recreation advisory board (the city solicited volunteers during the meeting) and asked residents to submit applications; the city manager said the city needs board members who live inside city limits to be sworn and seated before the board can make formal recommendations. Officials agreed the advisory board and any volunteer working groups should pursue grants, fundraising, operations partnerships and other options.

Several residents offered concrete short-term suggestions during the meeting: community fund-raising campaigns, grant-writing assistance, and reassigning event funds (the city’s community-events budget includes a fireworks allocation of about $22,000 and a separate parks fund of roughly $50,000 for capital park items were discussed). Several speakers volunteered to join working groups to explore grants and other revenue sources. The city manager said any grant matches would likely require local dollars and that many competitive capital grants require local matches.

Ending: The council’s action to restore $150,000 to the pool budget preserves the city’s option to open the pool for the coming season while council and an appointed Parks and Recreation advisory board convene a community working group, hold a town hall on Nov. 3, and report back with a plan before the budget is finalized. Council members repeatedly urged residents to apply to the Parks and Recreation board and to participate in the Nov. 3 town hall.