LAKEPORT, Calif. – During a special Thursday night the Lakeport Unified School District Board directed staff to work on placing signage that warns of safety concerns at the Westshore Pool in an effort to protect the board and district from liability.
Concerns about liability increased for the district this week after the Channel Cats swim team began using the pool, as is common during the summer months.
Originally the board was scheduled to discuss a proposed agreement between the city of Lakeport and the school district to allow the city to operate the pool for recreational swimming during the summer season.
However, district Superintendent Erin Smith-Hagberg said the city and school district hadn't yet come to an agreement on the document, which was not presented to the board.
It was discovered earlier this year that the district had not addressed concerns raised by the Division of the State Architect – which certifies school construction projects – in a December 2003 letter,
In March, the district approved an agreement for slope and soil testing with SHN Consulting Engineers and Geologists of Willits, which completed the work and submitted the report to the district late in May.
SHN's report – the findings of which the California Geological Survey approved – showed no issues with the slope or the soil.
However, Smith-Hagberg said there are still other safety issues the state wants addressed.
On Thursday evening, Smith-Hagberg told the board that the district's attorney had sent her a copy of the proposed agreement with the city for this summer's pool operation on Wednesday morning, and she passed it on to Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira that same day.
She said she received an email from Silveira that raised concerns about the proposal, and notifying Smith-Hagberg that the city intended to move forward with summer use of the pool under an existing agreement with the district.
Lakeport Public Works Director Mark Brannigan, who attended Thursday's school district board meeting on behalf o the city, said he had just come from a meeting with the Channel Cats, and that the swim team and the city are working on a memorandum of understanding for the pool's use.
District focuses on liability, safety concerns
Smith-Hagberg told the district trustees that there were short-term and long-term problems.
The long-term problem, she said, is how to address the Division of the State Architect's “significant concerns,” as well as the fact that the pool is uncertified and so the students can't use it.
She suggested that it would be “enormously expensive” to bring the pool up to meet code requirements.
At 10 a.m. next Thursday, June 12, the district will host a meeting of stakeholders – city, county and district officials, along with Channel Cats representatives – at the district office, located at 2508 Howard Ave., at which time Smith-Hagberg said they will sit down and try to brainstorm about how to move forward.
Smith-Hagberg also plans to have a consultant help Lakeport Unified explore possible funding sources – such as grants – for the pool and the district at large.
In the short-term Smith-Hagberg said the pool is being used and, according to the school district's attorney, that means personal liability for board members. She said there is no agreement in place that the school attorney feels fully protects the board.
She said the attorney suggested that while the district and city continue to work on an agreement, signs notifying the public of a safety risk should be posted at the pool to protect board members and the district.
The school attorney, according to Smith-Hagberg, also said the board needs to consider legal, ethical and moral issues relating to the use of the pool.
Board President Phil Kirby said the positive soil stability report does not give him reason to feel any more comfortable with the facility, considering issues raised by the Division of the State Architect with the outbuildings. He was leery of giving approval for using the pool without signage.
“I think we all share the same interest,” said Smith-Hagberg. “The pool is a tremendous asset to the community.”
She said the issue right now is that there are a lot of safety concerns and legal violations, “and those need to be fixed” for students to use the pool, with the question being how does the district raise the funds to make the fixes.
Brannigan said the pool won't be open for public swims as the city hasn't recruited lifeguards, but otherwise it will be business as usual with the Channel Cats' usage of the facility.
Kirby said they need to think about protecting children. Brannigan agreed that children's safety is everyone's priority, adding that the city believes the pool is safe.
Brannigan said the current agreement between the city and school district regarding the pool already indemnifies and holds harmless the school district, with Smith-Hagberg reiterating that the district's attorney doesn't feel it's sufficient.
Board member Dennis Darling moved to have Smith-Hagberg get signage in place and continue to explore all issues related to the pool, with Board member Lori Holmes seconding.
Meanwhile, up at the pool, the Channel Cats were busy practicing Thursday evening, as several parents and Channel Cats President Jennifer Hanson looked on.
Hanson and other Channel Cats parents don't agree with the district's take on the safety of the pool, a facility they've been using for many years.
The Channel Cats and the city are working closely together, Hanson said, with the city lowering the rent and the team paying for the pool chemicals.
City officials, Hanson said, “are teaching us everything we need to know” about operating the pool.
The swim team will be using the pool Mondays through Thursdays. Hanson said they also will be offering swim lessons to the community's children.
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