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Stafford swimmers pack a Board of Supervisors meeting to make the case for Woodlands pool Date published: 1/26/2009
BY JONAS BEALS
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors meeting took on the air of a local swim meet, with dozens of athletes and parents packing the board chambers to show support for Woodlands Pool. The North Stafford pool is the only year-round public swimming facility in the county and a number of residents at last week's meeting said they feared recent budget woes would force the county to close it to save money. That would displace a number of local swim teams, and would likely jeopardize high school programs in the county, supporters argued. Woodlands was a cost-cutting target in October, when the county decided to close the pool on Sundays. Fear spread when the Parks and Recreation Commission advised that if further budget cuts are needed, the high school swimming programs could be an early casualty. "It was a paper exercise to do 'what if' scenarios," said Parks and Recreation Director Chris Hoppe. "It was not a recommendation, but some folks figured they should say something to head it off before it might happen." Hoppe said that even with the financial challenges, the Parks and Recreation Commission recommended keeping Woodlands open. Swimming supporters were not willing to take any chances. "I know they have to make cuts somewhere," said Cathy Ahlin, whose son Ben is a freshman swimmer at Colonial Forge. "Unfortunately, closing Woodlands would affect high school swimmers. We thought that if we made a little noise, maybe they would listen to us." Students came to the meeting in team sweatshirts and held up signs opposing closing the pool. Parents argued that swimming is not only great exercise and a good team sport, but an important life skill. "If you play soccer," Heidi Simpson said to the board, "it's not going to save your life." The supervisors seemed to be on the side of the swimmers. "We are excited about the energy and excitement expressed by the folks in support of aquatics programs," Supervisor Harry Crisp said. The crowd may have jumped the gun a bit with their display, as budget decisions will not be made until April, but it seemed to have the desired effect. "There is a commitment amongst board members to keep this pool open," Supervisor Paul Milde assured the crowd. Jonas Beals: 540/368-5036
If the decision to consider eliminating HS swimming as a cost saving measure by the P&R commission was just a "paper exercise", why was it voted on? Why was it the ONLY cost saving measure considered? Or were the details of the meeting described in the FLS inaccurate? For the first 10+ years of HS swimming, P&R charged the schools rent for practice time and meets. Even though the P&R activites had routinely used school facilites at no charge. I advise everyone to "take names" & remember the quotes!
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