North Cowichan staff will try to keep the aging Crofton Outdoor Pool open for most of the upcoming summer season as infrastructure upgrades at the popular facility are set to begin.
Staff had recommended that the 57-year-old pool, located at 1668 Robert St., be closed for the entire season as the $360,000-project to begin replacing its underground pool-distribution piping and other work proceeds.
But at the council meeting on March 5, Coun. Bruce Findlay said he doesn’t think closing the pool for the entire summer is an option as it’s frequently visited by many of the residents of Crofton.
“It is incredibly well used in the summer and there are a lot of families that don’t go on vacation and they utilize this pool,” he said. “I’m making a motion to open it for a portion of the summer, maybe up to Aug. 1, and do the work then.”
George Farkas, North Cowichan's general manager of planning, development and community services, said one of the reasons staff have recommended a closure of the pool for the whole summer is due to the anticipated disruptions to service that will occur.
He said the flow rates at the pool are monitored by Island Health and it can be a daily occurrence where the municipality can’t meet the flow rates, and that could mean the pool would have to be closed on a daily basis.
“This is a risk to council but we could proceed with trying to operate the pool,” Farkas said. “The other potential operational risk is a pump failure and the cost would be about $15,000 if that risk materializes.”
Coun. Mike Caljouw said he hears what Farkas is saying, but if the pool’s pump breaks down, the municipality could start working on repairing it at that point.
It was pointed out by staff that this would be a real possibility as that did occur in the summer of 2024, which delayed the start of the pool’s season until June.
“It did put a lot of stress on our staff getting the repairs done and trying to open up that pool because we do realize that it’s a popular asset to the community in the summer months,” a staff member said.
“We could open it but there is the possibility that there will be service delays if the pump goes down again, and there will be financial impacts to that as well.”
CAO Ted Swabey said he doesn’t want staff to talk council out of any options provided in the staff report, including keeping the pool open for the summer.
“They’re all feasible and we’ve outlined the risks [of each one],” he said. “Whatever council chooses is the right decision.”
Council voted unanimously to keep the pool open for part of the summer, at least until Aug. 1.
