Patching up pool pipes in progress
BLACKFOOT TELECOMMUNICATIONS made a $5,000 donation to Committee for Safe Swimming last week to go toward needed repairs at the E.L. Johnson Memorial Pool in Plains. Pictured, from left, are Jim Willoughby of Blackfoot; Janice Hanson of the committee; and Plains Mayor Dan Rowan. (Photo courtesy of Kathy Gregg)
A TOWN of Plains crew is working on getting to and replacing problematic water lines at the E.L. Johnson Memorial Pool, thanks to numerous generous donations. The most recent donors have been the Washington Foundation, Plains Town Pump and Blackfoot Telecommunications. The pool is expected to be ready for use by the usual opening in early June. (Courtesy photo)
The community of Plains worked hard to raise funds to repair the public E.L. Johnson Memorial Pool’s leaky pipes. They will be able to reap their reward by plunging in a restored pool the first week of June.
Most of the pool’s deck is being torn up to replace pipes that fill and circulate the pool water. The pipes have been leaking for years, lately as much as 15,000 gallons per day — a pricey and wasteful expense that the Town of Plains has had to pay for out of taxpayer funds that could be used for streets or other town needs.
“The whole pool has to recirculate many times a day,” explains Plains Mayor Dan Rowan. “And a pool is required by state regs to have higher chlorine than drinking water. That chlorine and the heat is expensive, especially if you have to heat and treat 15,000 extra gallons every day the pool is in use.”
The Committee for Safe Swimming raised at least $50,000 through community donations small and large, corporate donations including grants from Town Pump, Blackfoot Telecommunications, and the Washington Foundation — and everyone’s favorite fundraiser, the sale of over 300 dozen truffles, handmade by Janice Hanson. With these funds, and with city employees able to help out on their already-funded salaries, the project will be completed without taking an extra chunk out of the regular town budget.