After a lengthy conversation about the hotel/motel tax split with the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce last Monday night, the city council spent the last 20 minutes of their open session considering options for the Aquatic Center with Recreation Supervisor Jennifer Hart.

The first suggestion Hart presented was closing at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. on weekdays, which would save $18,420 in wages over a 12-week season, allowing for evening waterwalking to start earlier and potentially attract more attendees. She said they had seen a fairly substantial decline in water walkers last summer compared to years past, but morning waterwalking numbers have held strong at around 4,000 per season.

Discontinuing evening waterwalking altogether, she added, would save around $6,900 in staff costs, and she then opened the floor up to questions. Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Ladehoff asked if the pool was typically busy from 6 to 7 p.m., and while she didn’t have a firm answer, she said she could get numbers to bring back and added that many working families are able to come to the pool during the later hours with daily entry fees reduced after 5 p.m.

“We’re really talking pennies here. I mean, we’re trying to cut the best we can,” Hart said. “Closing at 6:00, in my professional opinion, it would be beneficial for my staff. My staff would enjoy it, but for the public, for the service, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Councilor Jeff Schneider asked about the user fees collected after 6 p.m. as well as the waterwalking fees and said he wasn’t in favor of any of the cuts. City Administrator Carol Webb responded that the cuts were being considered as part of the bigger picture and the likelihood that the state legislature will take action to further limit the taxes cities can collect for their general funds.

Fellow Councilor Gary Thompson agreed with Schneider that he wouldn’t advocate for any of the proposed cuts, but he also implored the Parks and Rec staff, along with employees in other departments, to start tracking expenses better and knowing exact numbers.

“We’re shooting in the dark here saying cut this, cut that, add this, add that. It’s hard for us to make these decisions and impact the least number of people,” he said.

With the council planning to move just over $1 million from the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) fund to cover the general fund deficit, Thompson suggested leaving the pool as it is but again called for better information to be provided.

“I have a massive spreadsheet, and I sent it to Carol. It’s kind of overwhelming because it goes through year after year, I mean, since we’ve opened the Aquatic Center. It’s pretty extensive, so I can tell you exactly how many of each thing was every single day. I can pull those numbers. It’s really easy to pull the numbers,” Hart said.

“But even those numbers mean nothing to us if you’re not tracking temperature,” Thompson replied.

Hart then clarified that they do track temperature, early closures due to staffing and weather and cash and credit card transactions. Councilor Barry Kell agreed about opposing any cuts but felt the prospect of moving water walking up was “intriguing.”

“I think there’s a lot of moving pieces, but in the approach to try to see how we can be as efficient as possible, there might be an opportunity to increase participation or overall attendance fees through this,” he said.

Hart noted that during previous years when staffing shortages required the pool to be closed at 4 p.m., they offered two separate water walking sessions and it was “well-received” by the public. Councilor Greg Nichols worried that even with reducing expenses, the city could also be losing revenue through a move like canceling evening water walking, and he wanted to see both sides of that equation before making a decision that will support as many people as possible in Marshalltown.

After Hart explained the large amount of information she had provided to Webb, Thompson asked for it to be consolidated into a “clean, crisp” format without the council having to read every page. Councilor Melisa Fonseca asked about the number of water walking sessions — there are currently two — and Hart said they also have lap swimming time as well.

Fonseca described the Aquatic Center as a crucial piece of summer in Marshalltown and didn’t want to see any cuts without knowing what impact it would have. During the public comment period, Jim Shaw advocated for making the pool free, citing the financial strain it can cause for families, and Ladehoff responded that he hadn’t found any other communities in Iowa that had made such a move.

The Mayor Pro Tem also took issue with the characterization of Marshalltown as a “poor” city, citing that it was just out of the top third for income in the state according to public data. Dave Grieve asked if summer passes were offered, and Webb said some communities work with local nonprofits to offer either discounts or free admission to families that qualify for free and reduced lunches. Marshalltown Public Library Director Sarah Rosenblum said the Friends of the Library pay for passes and give them to kids who complete summer reading activities, and they’re “very, very popular.” She also endorsed the idea of moving water walking up to an earlier time and said she would participate more frequently if such a change was made.

Without a formal vote, the councilors all agreed on not making any cuts at the present time, and Webb then asked if there were any further general fund budget adjustments they would like to explore.

“I think we know the path we’re going down, and I don’t think the intent is to continue to kick the can down the road. I just think we need more runway to actually properly evaluate everything vs., in a matter of a month, having to figure out what we’re cutting. So if we do go down the path of using Local Option Sales Tax to close that gap or completely fill that gap, I would request that we start these conversations earlier in the year so we are prepared next year to make informed decisions,” Kell said.

Thompson echoed the request and advocated for having smaller budget discussions throughout the year to avoid having to cram them all into a few meetings, along with being prepared for the state to “pull the rug out from under us,” in the councilor’s words. He also joked that the department heads who had endured the almost three-hour meeting (before a closed session still to come) shouldn’t have to come into work until 10 a.m. the following day, which garnered a correction from Webb, and Ladehoff reminded the audience that the swimming pool is a service to the community.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.