COOTAMUNDRA district residents will get their first chance to view the town’s heated pool facility on Wednesday, April 30.
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The council will conduct an open day during the afternoon, allowing residents a behind the scenes look at the pool’s operating systems prior to its Monday, May 5 opening.
When the proposal for a heated pool was originally put to council it was submitted on the basis that savings from closing the outside pool for the quiet months of November and March could be redirected into the running cost of the heated pool.
The addition of the indoor pool will give the public access to water all year round but facilities and services manager Greg Ewings said in considering the pools construction Council never envisaged that the new pool would be open full time during Autumn, Winter and Spring months and have set a time of four hours a day for general public access during these months with the ability for the new pool to be hired out outside of general public access hours.
A morning session, likely to be from 7am and 9am and an afternoon session will be open to the general public.
Organisations and groups can hire the pool outside of these periods for a hire fee of $100 an hour, which includes a life guard.
Water aerobics and other similar classes will continue to be scheduled if there is a demand.
Mr Ewings said that the council is encouraging people to be proactive in getting groups together and share the hire cost of the pool for swimming etc.
The entry fee to use the pool during the four hours per day general access period will cost $5 until the end of June as set in Councils current 2013/2014 fees and charges however following community response in regards to the current entry fees Council is currently considering changes to the pool entry pricing structure for the 2014/2015 financial year
During the open day the community will have access to all areas of the pool and council staff, as well as representatives from the pool’s construction company, will be on hand to talk to people about the facility and how it all works.
Everything is expected to be operational by the open day.
The pool will be heated to around 26 degrees through a solar system with a back up of gas.
Mr Ewings said that the combination of technology used to run this facility is unique.
The UV chlorination system requires little chemical, which is beneficial to swimmers and less corrosive for the pool facility itself.
The system self diagnoses the water and adjusts the concentration of additives to keep the water within the set parameters and gives warnings when it is unable to achieve the set requirements.
