Loudonville pool closes after manager resigns over disagreement with swim team parents

LOUDONVILLE – The village's swimming pool is closed until further notice following a disagreement between the pool manager and swim team parents, and amid council's decision to give parents of younger swimmers access to the pool area during practice.

Mayor Jason VanSickle made the announcement following a special Friday meeting of Loudonville Village Council, after which pool Manager Cheryl Young, a certified pool operator, resigned.

“We cannot operate without a CPO,” VanSickle said, explaining why the decision was made to close the pool.

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Conflict between pool manager and swim team leads to resignation

During Friday's meeting, a 45-minute discussion ensued between the mayor, council members, and swim team parents regarding a conflict between the pool management and swim team on whether parents or guardians should be allowed in the pool area during practices.

In a letter to council, Swim Team Boosters President John Carroll stated, “I believe it is reasonable and proper to allow parents to view their child from within the facility.”

Council and Park Committee member Cathy Lance said the policy on keeping parents out of the pool area during morning swim team practices “was to make it easier on Cheryl, who is busy with office and pool mechanical work in the mornings when there is a short staff. Having to watch out for parents and children in the pool area distracted her from getting her work done.”

Park committee chair Tom Young said he supported adopting that policy, “but now I see that I was wrong. When there are issues of autistic and very young children at practices, I see the need of having parents in the pool area.”

Tom Young made a motion to allow parents during practices for younger swim team members. Parents would be barred from the pool area during practices for older children.

Young, Lance and Councilman Bill Huffman voted in favor of the motion, with members Matt Young, Brandon Biddinger and Hollie McCauley opposing it. Mayor VanSickle made the tie-breaking vote, in favor of  allowing parental access while younger children are practicing.

'Unfortunate ... lack of communication' means no swimming at Loudonville pool

Prior to the vote, council recessed the meeting while Carroll spoke privately with Cheryl Young for about 15 minutes. When they returned to the council chambers, Carroll said the two could not come to an agreement on her service as pool manager and ability to work with the swim team.

At the beginning of the meeting, VanSickle called the rift between boosters and pool management “unfortunate, and caused by a lack of communication” between the two factions.

Kelly Cominsky, secretary of the swim team boosters, said the team “had taken many steps to work with pool management, including obtaining liability insurance and finding our own lifeguards for swim team events.”

“What we are doing is for the kids,” Member Chad Buzzard said.

Member Mindy Wilson said “at other pools parents are encouraged to be at practices. It is valuable for a parent to be on hand to recognize when a new swimmer has an important accomplishment while swimming,” she said.

“When my kids first got involved in swim team it was wonderful,” Member Christie Rooks said. “But for the last four years, our pool has gotten worse. I don’t know how or why that happened.”

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Carroll said such decisions are not easy for council. "It is like micromanaging," he said. "These matters should be resolved at the lowest level.”

VanSickle said pool management issues became complicated with the onset of COVID two summers ago.

“We didn’t open the pool at all that summer, and were able to open last summer only because Cheryl Young worked our way through the complex series of COVID regulations to enable us to open,” the mayor said. “She did a wonderful job at that, and I know she is dedicated to doing what’s best for the pool. I review her time sheets. She works an average of over 100 hours in a two-week pay period.”

She has done a great job,” added Tom Young.

Matt Young said problems "should be self-governed by the swim team."

"The decision to keep parents out of the pool area," he said, "was in response to unsupervised kids causing vandalism. The policy put Cheryl in a bad spot. This is a swim team issue.”

The village has posted the opening for a pool manager on its website where it's also seeking to fill other positions at the public pool.

"This position requires the ability to obtain an Ohio Certified Pool Operator license," the post for pool manager reads.

The employment application is available online, or at the business office on North Water Street.

For more information, call 419-994-3214 or email c.young@loudonville-oh.us.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Rift over parent access closes Loudonville pool; village seeks manager