pool comments

Great schools are certainly an important factor to consider when buying a home in ANY locale. The main consideration here is less the school teams involved (although they too should pay a reasonable amount)and more the private swim team that is being subsidized by the the Springs taxpayers. $600 a month is a ridiculous figure that wont even cover the cost of heating the pool during the Winter. Explaining THAT figure should be interesting, at least. Families in the Springs, and Doral one would suppose, are tightening their belts now and diminishing their expenses- which is exactly what the City of MS ought to be doing, under these tough economic circumstances. To continue to lose HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of our tax dollars unnecessarily shows poor judgement, lack of any organizational or management skills, and/or a lack of caring or concern by our city officials. Our pool losses have increased steadily over the past three years as the private swim team benefits from FREE pool practices AND meets. There is NO known record of MDAC being billed for ANYTHING for at least the past three years and no contract with ANY of the entities using our pool is known to the City Clerk. NOBODY IS PAYING, except the Springs taxpayers.IF MDAC has been paying, where are the revenues? the cancelled checks? the receipts? FREE use of our pool while we lose 300k a year HAS to stop! Everybody should pay the going rate - high schools pay the going high school rate, private swim clubs pay the going standard rates; scuba pays a standard rate, etc. We can NO LONGER provide a free lunch for 82 kids because 6 or less of them live in the Springs. Nor should we be expected to do it. Its a luxury we can no longer afford. Period. If they want to make us a reasonable offer, we should consider it against our expenses and the usual standard fees charged in Dade Co. on a cost/benefit basis; otherwise save the 200k and close it down while the kids are in school.