Committee considers stricter pool-pass rules and extended hours for special nights

The Recreation Committee considered changes to Purvis Park pool-pass policies and operating hours to improve registration accuracy and better match costs with usage.

Christopher Cooney said many pool-pass photos are outdated and suggested updating records rather than starting a full new registration. Pool manager Christine Kletecka said she deletes problematic passes at season’s end and wants an easier way to update photos on site; she requested one iPad to allow mobile check-in and photo updates. "The most important thing was being able to update a photo from it," Kletecka said.

On residency verification, Kletecka and Cooney discussed combining address and last-name matching to avoid placing multiple unrelated households from the same building on a single pass. Kletecka suggested limiting the number of children on a family pass and charging an incremental fee for additional children; Cooney cited Beachwood and Twinsburg as examples of per-person or tiered family models. Cooney said younger children (5 and under) should remain free and that the goal is to keep the pool accessible while mitigating rising costs.

Vice Mayor Michele Weiss asked staff to identify new rates and report back before Dec. 31. Pennington cautioned that any extension of hours—such as moving men’s and women’s nights to 5:30–8:30 p.m.—would increase lifeguard costs and require sufficient staffing. Kletecka said longer hours in June and July are feasible if staffing allows and recommended extending hours primarily on designated men’s and women’s nights rather than every night.

Committee members agreed priority should be given to residents and that staff would return with options for verification and proposed rate structures for council consideration.