WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – The Watertown city council sinks the idea of charging city residents to swim.
But council members are treading water on the possibility of charging non-residents to use a city pool.
Only council member Leonard Spazziani spoke in favor of a fee for residents to use city pools.
The proposed plan was meant to mirror the cost of public ice skating, calling for a $3 charge for people living in the city and a $4 fee for non-residents.
Watertown lawmakers now want to hold off on implementing any fees this year while the city studies who uses the Thompson Park pool most.
“It would be better to see what the numbers are at the end of the season to know where everybody is coming from,” council member Lisa Ruggiero said. “And I think that would help guide us in terms of whether we should charge or not for non-residents.”
This leaves the door open for council to consider charging a fee to non-residents next year.
The council also unanimously accepted a donation meant to honor Terry O’Brien. It’s $450 from friends of the O’Brien family to place a new bench in Thompson Park with a plaque in his memory. O’Brien and Maxine Quigg were shot and killed in April at Bridgeview Real Estate Services, a company the two owned. City officials are helping the family’s friends find a spot in the park to put the bench.
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