“Obviously, this is in response to two weeks ago when the (council received) the request from the Boys & Girls Club to do something to waive fees for them,” said Mayor Russ McEwen as the council began to address the topic. “We instructed staff at that time to come back with a recommendation. Ms. (Peggy) Walker, did you come up with a day of the week or anything?”

Walker, who serves as the finance director for the city, said she examined records from the pool's past summers, but the information failed to reveal a reasonable schedule for allowing free admission.

“I certainly researched it. However, in going back and trying to reconstruct that, you don't find any particular day that is better than any other day,” said Walker. “There's no rhyme or reason. I'm sure weather plays a part in that. I spoke with Pete Thiry today, and we thought possibly the action would be to reduce the fee to $1 on one given day of the week instead of the $2 fee, and make that available to everyone independent of status or ability to pay. Pete suggested that we choose either Thursday or Friday because the pool would be closed during the evening period for rentals. He said on either of those days they would have sufficient ability to provide the life guards.”

And while the decision was clearly up to the city council Tuesday night, an ordinance was also approved that would put the decision making on similar matters in the hands of City Manager Gary Fuqua in the future.

McEwen said he felt Fridays were the best day for the waiving of admission fees.

“I'd like for us to make a recommendation to Mr. Fuqua on this,” said McEwen. “I'd like for us to pick a day and decide whether to do it for free or 50 cents or $1, however, we want to do it. But I feel like this is in keeping with a consensus which was to allow everyone — let's don't take a group — for every child in town to have the opportunity to swim. I don't know why, but logic tells me Friday is the day we should do it because it's close to the weekend. It may be the stupidest idea in the world, but that's what I'd like to hear from you, is the comments and what you (the council) want to do.”

McEwen’s choice of words left a serious question about who would and would not benefit from the move, however.

“You say child, but is there an age limit?” asked Councilwoman Gloria McDonald.

“We can certainly do it that way, but it's probably easier if you make it available to everyone,” responded Walker.

Councilman Troy Tompkins — who later made the motion to make Fridays free at the pool and was seconded by Councilman Manuel Ramirez Jr. — questioned why the vote on the matter was necessary if the matter would be turned over to Fuqua as a result of the second ordinance.

“The language in this ordinance says the city manager is authorized to waive fees as he deems appropriate. Why don't we just instruct the manager to handle this?” asked Tompkins.

McEwen said he didn't feel handing over such a hotly contested matter to Fuqua at that point in the proceedings was fair to the city manager.

“No. I don't want to dump that onto the city manager. I don't think that's fair,” said McEwen. “I think we, as a council, should say this is what we want to do. We can leave it the way it is, we can reduce the fee, we can waive the fee. But we need to decide what we're going to do.”

Also during the meeting, the council voted unanimously to approve a second measure associated with swimming, giving Fuqua the authority to allow swimming in Comanche Trail Lake, where no swimming is currently allowed at any time.

However, residents ready to take a dip in the municipal lake may want to reconsider, as the consideration will not be given for recreational swimming.

“As you may have heard, there is a triathlon coming to Comanche Trail Park Sept. 6,” said Assistant City Manager Todd Darden. “Currently, our ordinance does not allow any swimming at the lake. There isn't even a designated area. The CVB (Conventions and Visitors Bureau) and some of the staff have been working with a group that wants to put on a triathlon in our community. This ordinance will allow the city manager to waive that restriction for special events.”

Fuqua confirmed no recreational swimming will be allowed in the lake.

Comanche Trail Lake wasn't the only body of water considered during the meeting, as the council voted to rescind its approval of the lease agreement with the West Texas Water Ski Club, which has used Moss Creek Lake in the past.

According to city officials, the club's contract with the city for use of Moss Creek Lake ran out in January, and since then a new contract has not been signed and no fees have been paid.

Officials with the club indicated they plan to use the lake in the future, and will be consulting with City Attorney Linda Sjogren to have a new contract drawn up and approved by the council.

In the meantime, however, McEwen confirmed the club will be unable to use the facility until a new contract is signed.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it