LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday chose to reduce the Westshore Pool Summer Camp to half days while staff waits to find out if there will be funding assistance for lifeguards and other necessities.

Public Works Director Doug Grider had initially taken the discussion about the camp to the council at its last meeting in February.

This summer’s camp will be the third the city has hosted since renovating the Westshore Pool several years ago.

Grider was concerned that staffing and other associated costs – including water and healthy snacks for the children participating in the daylong camps – were going to result in a revenue loss for the city.

It was suggested at the last meeting that the city might be able to reduce costs by having the children take advantage of a free meals program offered by Lakeport Unified School District during the summer.

Grider said Tuesday that he had contacted the school district, which runs the food program for four weeks in July.

He suggested the pool’s summer camp could be tailored so that all but one of the days would coincide with the program, which offers breakfast and lunch to children.

In addition, Grider is working with the Lake One-Stop, which is applying for funds for a summer youth program. He said that program would help pay for lifeguard certifications and wages at the pool.

While the One-Stop can’t guarantee at this point that it will receive the grant, “I’m optimistic about it,” Grider told the council.

Grider had offered the council several options – keep the camps for full days, reduce them to half days, suspend or stop them altogether.

Staff proposed that if the camps were reduced to half days that children ages 9 to 11 would be given punch cards to participate in public swim in the afternoons.

Council member Suzanne Lyons raised concerns about children leaving the pool during the public swim.

Grider said children are checked in and out and carefully monitored. “We don’t let the little people out the gate.”

Mayor Stacey Mattina suggested the council approve the camp to continue with half days, and if the grants come through they can add more elements to it.

Grider said one of reasons he brought the issue to the council was a lack of staff resources to devote to the program.

If the additional funding elements came through, Grider suggested the city could enrich the program by hiring a pool manager.

He said he hopes the economy comes back so the city can continue supporting such programs.

“It’s not that I don't like the program or think it was a bad program,” he said. “I think it was an excellent program.”

Councilman Tom Engstrom moved to have the camps move to half-day sessions until additional resources are available, which the council approved 4-0. Councilman Roy Parmentier was absent from the meeting.

In other news, the council approved staff’s use of an environmental consultant to put together an application by month’s end for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Community Facilities financing program. The goal is to get federal funding for water and sewer rehabilitation and improvement projects.

City Manager Margaret Silveira said the city has received word that if they can have the application in by the end of March they have a good chance at getting funding, including a grant.

“Staff has been working on this a long time,” Silveira said.

Council members also approved a Cinco de Mayo event but required that two police officers be assigned to it due to security concerns that had arisen during past celebrations.

An audit that was scheduled to be presented on Tuesday night was postponed until the next meeting, as the auditor was unable to attend, Silveira said.

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