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Resident urges Ben Hill County to press DLS to keep pool open after funding change affects swim team
Summary
A Fitzgerald resident told commissioners the DLS board or executive director removed pool funding despite county and city contributions, a move he said jeopardizes a swim team and affects roughly 40 families; commissioners said they will consider his concerns.
A Fitzgerald resident urged Ben Hill County Commissioners on Jan. 7 to press the county’s shared recreation provider to keep a municipal pool open after what the resident described as a funding decision that would end the community’s swim team.
Johnathan Burch told commissioners that he is the father of a child on the Fitzgerald swim team and that DLS (the recreation provider referenced in the meeting) had decided to remove funding for the pool despite the county and the city each voting to increase their contributions by $20,000 (a combined $40,000). Burch said the pool funding represented only about 2% of DLS’s overall budget but that the change would eliminate the swim team program and affect roughly 40 families.
Burch asked the commissioners and the city council to recommend that DLS keep the pool open for one more year so the community has time to develop a longer-term plan. Chairman Hal Wiley thanked Burch for voicing his concern and said the commissioners would consider the request.
The transcript records the resident’s concerns and figures as presented by Burch; the DLS board or executive director’s rationale for the funding change was not provided during the meeting, nor did a DLS official address the pool decision in the minutes. The commissioners did not take an immediate formal vote on the request during the meeting.
