Roy City Council to consider future of pool and recreation complex

ROY, Utah —  The Roy City Council met Tuesday, in part, to consider the future of the city pool.

A hefty price tag for repairs has them looking at whether to keep it open or shut it down for good.

While that exact decision was not on the agenda, it is part of the overall budget that needs to be approved for the next fiscal year.

The future of the Roy City Pool in question, now that it needs $500K to replace a boiler. On @KSL5TV at 5&6, we'll hear from people who want to save it, and why the mayor says he's getting more emails and phone calls over this than ever. Council meeting at 5:30 tonight. pic.twitter.com/MPhoPVi69H

— Mike Anderson (@mikeandersonKSL) June 21, 2022

“A lot of our kids, they build their future college careers around swim,” said Shauna Havey, who has a son on the Roy High School swim team.

It’ll cost a lot of money — $500,000 — to get this pool up and running again.

“And it has tremendously impacted his life to be on the swim team and just made him who he is,” said Tamina Morgan, who also has a son on the Roy High School swim team.

Malori Cuevas is the head coach.

“The complex is right in our parking lot, so we have a lot of low-income families and people that don’t necessarily have transportation on their own, and they can still do swim team,” she said.

But on the table now is that $500,000 repair price tag for a new boiler.

City council members will ultimately have to decide whether to pay it.

“I’ve never seen, Mike, so many emails coming to me, so many phone calls coming to me,” said Roy City Mayor Robert Dandoy.

Dandoy said there are people who say it’s worth it, others who don’t want their taxpayer dollars to keep going towards it.

“It’s a great resource, and that’s where the issue is — is it a service or is it expected to make money?” he said. “And that’s the two camps and that’s a hard one.”

But if the council decides not to pay, it’s not necessarily over. They could look to donors and other options.

Dandoy said it’s also likely they’ll take more time for that decision, pushing it to the next meeting.

“I think it would be a big loss,” sail Janel Hulbert. “I think we should try to do everything we can to keep it around.”

Options that these parents say need to be considered if it comes to that.

“It’s been a part of our life for the two decades that we’ve been in Roy,” Havey said.

The cost of running the pool is currently in the proposed budget, the repairs are not. However, Dandoy said there is a $6 million fund balance where the council could pull from if they decide to go that direction.