By BECKY KISER
Hays PostÂ
The city of Hays plans to offer an admission discount at the Hays Aquatic Park (HAP) to Ellis residents after the Ellis swimming pool was unexpectedly closed Wednesday morning.
Henry Schwaller, Hays mayor, made the suggestion during Thursday’s city commission work session.
The Ellis municipal pool was losing almost 30,000 gallons of water every 2 to 3 days according to Mayor Dave McDaniel and city officials decided to shut it down ahead of the season closing date.
Ellis is planning to build a new swimming pool and has received $1.3 million in grant funding towards the $1.8 million dollar project.
In the meantime, Hays city commissioners want to show their support of the neighboring town.
RELATED: Permanent closure of the Ellis city pool a surprise, but not unexpected
“They’ve been very supportive of us in our pursuit of water (from the R-9 Ranch in Edwards County),” Schwaller noted. “They also have water needs and they pump from the Big Creek Aquifer as Hays does.
“Their decision to shut the pool and not waste water, not only benefits them, it benefits us.”
Schwaller, who was participating in the meeting via phone, suggested offering a 50% discount to HAP for Ellis residents showing proof of residence. The expense would come from the city commission contingency fund.
Toby Dougherty, city manager, said he would tell Jeff Boyle, Director of Parks, to contact the Hays Recreation Commission (HRC) and offer the half-price admission to Ellis residents and the people with them. HRC manages the two Hays swimming pools.
Although the commission cannot take action during a work session, Dougherty explained that “with the consensus of all five commissioners, under my spending authority I can approve this.”
Dougherty said the agreement would be on the agenda for next week’s regular meeting “for formal action to authorize it just to cover the bases.”
The Hays Aquatic Park will close for the season Aug. 11.