Whitehorse pool needs $20K or programs will be cut, council hears

Whitehorse's pool services could be cut backif more money isn't allocated to it from the city's budget, a representative from the city's department of recreation said Monday.

Krista Mroz, the city's manager of recreation and city services, told Whitehorse city council the Canada Games Centre pool needs an extra $20,000 from the city's budget in order to meet recently changed national safety requirements.

The new rules requiremore lifeguards on duty at the pool than in the past, leading to higher costs.

The department asked forthe money last year, but therequest was denied. The pool then maintained its services through administrative adjustments.

That's no longer an option, according to Mroz.

"We're at a point now where... there are some things we would have to cut," she told city councillors on Monday."We would have to cut programming."

Mroz saidthepool may have tocut hours during early morning lane swims and at quiet times during the week.

"We're a community surrounded by water," Mroz told council."We have a lot of interested people who want to learn how to swim to access the lakes.They boat, they canoe, they kayak. We see it as a benefit for the community, because it provides a safe way for people to be around water."

City council will make its decision on whether or not to approve Mroz' request the money would come from the city's general reserve in the coming weeks.

However, Mayor Dan Curtis made remarks in supportlast night in council chambers, saying that "of course, when it is brought out by professionals that it is for the safety of our workforce, and our swimmers, I'm okay with that."