City, school district fired up over heating pool

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- This summer’s chilly water temperatures at Corona del

Mar High School’s swimming pool have Mayor Gary Adams boiling.

To deal with soaring energy prices, Newport-Mesa Unified School

District officials decided to charge the city’s summer swimming program

for extra pool heating and filtration costs this year. That prompted city

officials to move the entire program to the swimming pool at Newport

Harbor High School and keep the unheated Corona del Mar High’s pool

tentatively open for lap swimming.

But during Tuesday’s City Council study session, a usually reserved

Adams criticized district officials for forcing the city’s residents to

make do with one pool.

District officials “are trying to pinch pennies and try to blame it on

the energy crisis,” Adams said. “This is crazy. . . . There is something

really wrong here. This sounds really fishy to me. . . . If they are

going to pull this with the pool heating, what’s going to be next?”

While somewhat less passionate about the matter, Councilman Tod

Ridgeway agreed that the two public agencies should try to come up with a

compromise.

“We’re prepared to loosen our budget to satisfy constituents,”

Ridgeway said. “The school district should do the same. . . . I think

there has got to be a way for the school district and the city to come

together to open both of these pools.”

Ridgeway then called for a meeting between top city and district

officials to resolve the matter. On Thursday, City Manager Homer Bludau

said he was still trying to set up a get-together.

As things stand, district officials are asking the city to pay $422 a

day for extra heating and filtration costs to bring the pool up to 80

degrees. City officials have already added a $10 energy surcharge to fees

for swimming lessons.

While the district’s point man on the issue said he’d gladly meet with

city officials, he added that there was little he could offer.

“If we reduce [the energy surcharge], my challenge to the city would

be, ‘Where would you like us to cut [other things in the budget?]”’ said

Mike Fine, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services.

Fine added that because the district had no means to charge more for

its main line of business -- education -- he and his colleagues had to

come up with creative ways to cover higher energy costs.

And folks in Costa Mesa, who were confronted with the same energy

costs for their summer swim program, hadn’t reacted like their Newport

Beach counterparts, Fine said.

“Costa Mesa has been beyond cooperative in dealing with the issue,”

Fine said. “Newport Beach’s attitude has been different. We’ve been

beyond fair. We’re still paying a ton of money. All we’ve asked the city

is to pay for excess costs.”

QUESTION

Cool pool

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