The City of Omaha usually has about six weeks to prepare their swimming pools for the summer season, giving families a place to go to beat the summer heat.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they only get about three weeks this year. “Having such a short window of having to get everybody on board is definitely a collaborative effort,” Tracy Stratman, recreation programmer, told 6 News.
Just last week Mayor Jean Stothert announced anonymous donors came forward to pay the cost to get some pools open for the summer.
The City’s Parks and Human Resources Departments, as well as newly hired lifeguards and managers were on hand at the Elkhorn Community Center Monday for aquatic staff service training.
“It’s to make sure that they know not only the City of Omaha’s policies and procedures but their certification process,” Stratman says.
Some of the city’s new procedures include $2 admission fees per person and social distancing. Pools will only run at 75 percent capacity, not including staff members. They will count every individual at the facility and space households apart.
The city is also evaluating how to advise lifeguards for situations that require CPR. As for concerns about COVID-19 spreading through the water. “According to the CDC and National Recreation and Parks Association, you can’t get COVID-19 through chemically treated water, and that’s what we use in the pools,” she tells 6 News.
The city acted quickly to get 100 lifeguards and supervisors prepared. Elmwood, Hitchcock, Miller, Roanoke and Zorinsky pools open July 1.
Facilities will be open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., then close for 30 minutes to treat the pools, then reopen at 4:30 p.m. and close at 8 p.m. each day.
The $2 Admission fees will go to a local food bank.