The pool deck will be cut from the pool house to the shallow end of the pool to do the repairs.
A full Big Sandy Council voted unanimously to fix the pool according to state requirements. As published in the Mountaineer in August, "Leslie Gregory reported the Big Sandy Swimming Pool Inspector showed up for a surprise visit and inspection. Historically, the pool was grandfathered for not meeting the requirements at the beginning because of the age of the pool. We are required to maintain an eight-hour water exchange; which means the water in the pool must all be taken out of the pool every eight hours. A couple of years ago we were at an 11- hour rate, which at the time they gave a warning that we needed to fix it. This last week we were at an 18-hour exchange rate, and she said we had to fix the problem. She said we couldn't continue to ignore it. The problem is all the water pipes are under the pool. To create new pipes and to connect it to the input, could mostly crack the old cement and destroy the pool. So, it is hoped that they will continue to give us warnings, if not the next time they come in and discover the exchange rate continue to get lower they may just shut the pool down." Later they learned the state informed the town if not repaired the pool would not be allowed to open next summer.
The pool closed Monday, August 19th. The school will be able to use the pool for PE for two weeks before the repairs start.
During that time, they will be running experiments to determine the size of pipe necessary to see which will be required to increase the water turnover in the pool. In September, they will cut into the deck. There are several questions besides the pipe size needed? Will the fix create cracks in the cement or the liner of the pool? How best to fix the cracks if they appear. Is the filter system we have big enough to handle more water?
They do have $20,000 currently available to use on the repairs, but they will be writing a grant for $30,000 to make sure they have enough money so the pool will be operational by May 2020.
A resident of Big Sandy reported to the council a water drainage issue which is by the
pool and skate park and asked the council to look into answers of how best to resolve the issue. Whenever this is significant rainfall, the water runs into the park and is close to flooding residences. The council assured him that drainage was the next issue being tackled by the council and in fact, they have interviews on September 26th to hire for that very reasons an engineering firm to discuss how to resolve drainage issues.
Further issues concerning residents would be Unified Disposal Rate to increase by $5. A letter will be sent to those who have not mowed their lawns, and the consequences that will come because of the have not. After reviewing the budget for the next year, they discovered they lost money in sewer services. The sewer rate should be increased by $7 per month. The sewer rate will be discussed at a further date.
