Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Pool Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Waynetown council lifts pool ban, stresses 'no‑tolerance' safety approach after on‑site dispute
Summary
After council members described a recent pool dispute as a family or civil matter, the Waynetown Town Council voted 5‑0 to lift a ban involving Laura Howe and to designate both the employee and the child as 'no tolerance' situations; council also discussed a separate fight that sent one youth to hospital and noted DVR camera outages.
The Waynetown Town Council voted unanimously on June 10 to lift an administrative ban tied to an incident at the municipal pool while establishing a townwide 'no‑tolerance' approach for employees and minors involved in safety incidents.
Council members debated whether the underlying problem was a family matter or a civil dispute rather than a criminal act. "I think this is a family personal issue," Councilman Randy Phillips said during discussion; Aaron Benge added that he was unsure of the other party’s side and cautioned against appearing to take sides. Town Council President Bob Cox said the pool employee was "scared to death and crying," based on what the pool manager reported, and multiple council members emphasized protecting the 16‑year‑old employee.
Randy Phillips moved to remove the ban and make the employee and the child subject to a no‑tolerance rule going forward; Aaron Benge seconded and the motion passed 5‑0. The council discussed trespass authority and noted police had not issued a formal trespass in the earlier reported incident; Marshal Kyle Proctor explained that if the individual returned without a police‑issued trespass, there may be limited enforcement options.
Separately, Caleb Berry told the council a "pretty big fight" occurred at the pool roughly an hour before the meeting; one youth was taken to the hospital. Caleb said the altercation moved from verbal inside the pool to physical outside the pool; both a girl and the victim were trespassed and staff were still trying to identify two main suspects. John Warren reported that the pool DVR was not working, which hampered immediate camera review.
Council directed staff and the marshal to continue follow‑up on the fight and on trespass notices. Kyle Proctor successfully moved later in the meeting to purchase new cameras for the park, pool and town hall and to surplus old cameras and DVRs to improve future evidence collection.
