Pahrump board hears pitch for year-round swimming

Year-round swimming could be in the future for the Town of Pahrump.

The issue has been gaining popularity within the community for the past several years.

Last night, Pahrump Town Board members were expected to discuss renovations to the town pool that would make year-round swimming a possibility.

At present, the pool is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Local resident Rachael Roberts is spearheading this latest effort.

Roberts, who has spent the past year consulting with both Town and Parks and Recreations Advisory Board members, provided board members with results of her research on Tuesday evening.

The self-described “stay at home mom” said support for year-round swimming has reached an all-time high.

“Pahrump and Nye County residents are in need of a community year-round aquatics center to greatly enhance quality of life for local residents, surrounding Nye County residents, and tourists. There is a lack of multigenerational use facilities that cover the full spectrum of physical and special needs. Currently, our town pool is solely capable of operations as a seasonal swimming facility. Unfortunately, our town pool’s current state renders it incapable for year-round usage,” she said.

Roberts presented what she termed as “must have” features for achieving her goal.

Heating was chief among them.

Her proposal featured options include a removable blanket keeping the pool both clean and warm during winter months.

Roberts also suggested utilizing a heat pump.

Costs associated with implementing both features total more than $64,400.

Additionally, Roberts estimated annual heating costs will run the town roughly $15,000 a year.

Town Manager Susan Holecheck said though she does understand the demand for a year-round town swimming pool, she can’t at this time justify the expense.

“I may seem like the bad guy here but we cannot in my opinion afford to lay out that kind of expense at this time. You are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. We are going to have to use more chemicals if we become year-round. We will have to provide lifeguards, which mean year-round salaries and obviously we will have to provide maintenance on the pool throughout the year,” she said.

Day-to-day costs aside, Holecheck also said the pool is in need of major repairs before year-round swimming can be implemented.

“The simple fact is we are going to have to gunite and completely redo the inside of that pool. Mrs. Roberts did a fabulous job, she’s passionate and you have to laud someone who has that much passion, but it’s a lot of money just in making it year-round as far as equipment. When you factor in everything else that is required, It’s just too much right now,” she said.

The idea of providing a year-round pool away from town property was brought up late last year.

Local business owner Chris Tellis expressed his desire to partner with the town on building a facility.

Tellis told the board that he would pay half of the total cost, which was estimated to run more than $7,900 for a study provided by an area engineering firm.

The town would have had to ante up an additional $7,900.

Board members sank the proposal mainly because the proposed site would not be located on town property.

Due to time constraints, results from last night’s town board meeting will be published in Friday’s edition of the Pahrump Valley Times.