TRUMAN– On Monday evening the Truman City Council heard some unfortunate news about the city swimming pool.

Wayne Wiederhoeft, city street worker and pool operator, said rust is clinging to the walls and they can’t brush it off.

Utility Foreman Brent Brown explained that the issues arose on Friday when the city water tower, which has been having work done to it, was put back online.

“The state law says if you can’t see the main drain the pool has to close,” Wiederhoeft said.

Pool Commissioner Kim Breamer said that you can see the drain when the water is still but not when people are swimming or at different times of the day, depending on where the sun is at,

“The water is completely clear. It’s just the bottom, the side walls…” said Breamer.

Wiederhoeft said if it was the beginning of the season he’d suggest they drain the pool, clean it and fill it back up, but considering it’s near the end of the season, he didn’t think it would be worth it. The pool was slated to close Aug. 21.

The council acknowledged that the issue is one of safety.

“I would have very, very strong feelings about that. I don’t think we’d want to put ourselves, as a city, in legal problems, as well as having somebody’s life lost,” said Mayor Terry Bentele.

Breamer said she doesn’t want to see the pool close early but said nothing they’ve tried has worked and she didn’t see how it could be an easy fix.

Wiederhoeft said by the time they drained the pool, cleaned it, prepped it and re-painted it, there might be a week left in the season.

Council Member Patty Truax mentioned that some people with seasonal passes might want a partial reimbursement. Breamer added that pool employees will be expecting another three weeks of work, too. It was suggested that there might be some work available for the city.

“It sounds to me like we don’t have any choice but to close it down,” said Truax.

Council Member Jake Ebert brought up the idea of using a pressure washer under water to try to get rid of the rust on the walls.

“I know it didn’t work to brush it off, but if you did it with 3,000 or 6,00 PSI…” said Ebert.

Breamer said she’s open to trying whatever the city is willing. Brown said they can try using a pressure washer today and if it works, the filter would take care of the rust.

The council agreed that if it doesn’t work, they would talk later during this week about next steps.

In other news, Donna Kotewa and Nancy Salic from the Truman Days committee were present to talk about some issues from this year’s event and share news about next year’s.

Nancy Salic said they’ve been looking at the calendar for next year and plan to hold the event the fourth Saturday of July, which is the weekend of the 21, 22, 23. She said they were in touch with planning members of Welcome Days, who didn’t have a problem with Truman’s proposed dates.

“As long as we don’t stack up on one,” said Ebert.

For this next year, Salic said they’re looking for a chair person, vendor person and parade coordinator. She said they’ve advertised for the need for volunteers on social media, on the radio station and in various newspapers.

“If we can’t find anyone, then we just won’t do it. We need volunteers,” said Bentele.

Kotwea said some maintenance is needed in the park. Specifically she said there’s many holes that need to be filled. The council asked Wiederhoeft to look into the issue.

Kotewa also asked if it was possible to get more more amps in the shelter at the park to accommodate more vendors. Brown said he could look into that.

Moving to other matters, Brown said the water tower systems are back to normal. He said they’re short on one kit of paint but have another one ordered.

Brown also said they’re working on finishing the design portion of the filter rehab project so they can send it off for bids.

In other news:

— Brown said that Bolten & Menk will have a recommendation at the next meeting for a contract for the 5th Street drainage project.

— The council approved the new ambulance rate schedule.