Pushes for renovating city’s outdoor pool

By Bert Lehman

The Clintonville City Council’s indecision regarding the city’s outdoor swimming pool prompted Dennis Lichtenberg to express his frustration with the council.

During the citizens forum portion of the Aug. 14 Clintonville City Council meeting, Lichtenberg told the council he is concerned about the city’s slow progress on making a decision regarding the pool’s future.

A bathhouse at the pool was damaged in a fire in December 2015. The damage was discovered by a city employee Dec. 21, 2015, and the Wisconsin Department of Justice in 2016 ruled the cause “undetermined.”

Lichtenberg said he understands the fire at the pool facility was a setback.

“But even before the fire there was discussion about improving the things that needed to be done on the pool … but that didn’t get acted on,” Lichtenberg said.

Recent cost estimates in the millions of dollars to restore the pool have turned off community members, he said.

“Obviously in a town like Clintonville you’re not going to be able to move ahead with something at that type of cost,” Lichtenberg said.

He said he feels residents are in support of the swimming pool but not a new pool.

“I am here to support renovating that pool,” he said. “Go back to what needs to be done, what the city should have done all the way along, kept the maintenance up. And I think that can be done at a reasonable cost. And I think that’s the responsibility of the city.”

If the pool is renovated, adding any new amenities to the facility should be done through fundraising, Lichtenberg said.

He said that by addressing the city council, he hopes to generate interest within the community to push forward with pool renovations.

The city pool was not on the agenda for the council meeting, so the council could not discuss the topic. Beggs said he hopes to have a pool discussion on the September council agenda.

It’s not the first time it has looked like a decision was forthcoming regarding the city’s swimming pool.

Water Technology Inc. presented available pool options to the city council at its June meeting. Afterward, Beggs told the council he wanted a decision about the pool at the July council meeting.

The pool was not on the council agenda for its July meeting. During the Mayor’s Comments portion of the July meeting, Beggs said the council was not prepared to make a recommendation regarding the pool. The pool did not appear on the August meeting agenda.