Swim program discussed at council meeting

SANDPOINT — Details of an anticipated summer swim program were shared at Wednesday’s council meeting. 

The program was created as an interim solution to the city’s decision to pause Sandpoint’s lifeguard program. 

City officials said the lifeguard program has been hurt by the changing demographics of the region and shifting employment environment over the last few years. Despite receiving the same budget allocation it had in years past, the city was unable to recruit lifeguards in 2023 and the program was put on pause. 

“Recognizing the larger challenges faced by not just Sandpoint, but cities all over the country, in recruiting and retaining lifeguards, the city has decided to put the lifeguard program on pause again in 2024, instead focusing our limited resources on providing aquatics-based instruction and supervised free swim opportunities at City Beach, as well as other activities such as games, crafts, and sports,” city officials said in information included in the meeting packet. 

Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm said there are additional reasons for reconsidering the program this year, including liability issues that accompany specific lifeguard-to-swimmer ratio requirements that must be met when lifeguard surveillance is provided. With beach visitors sometimes reaching over 300 people in the summers, Grimm said it is unlikely the city could keep up with the required amount of lifeguards, creating greater liability issues. 

The rebuilding of an aquatics program is expected to create confidence for young swimmers who may frequent City Beach until a lifeguard program is considered again. While swim lesson programs have been offered in the past, they have been paused since the COVID- 19 pandemic. Now, this new program would be expanded to a half-day summer camp that has the potential to serve up to 60 children per day. 

Katie Bradbury, Sandpoint Recreation superintendent, said the program would begin with swim lessons taught by qualified staff that would be paid with the regular lifeguard budget. 

“After the swim lessons wrap up, that’s where the fun programming begins with the recreation staff; where we can offer them things like sand castle building contests, relay races or water balloon tosses — things that you do during your typical day camp programming,” Bradbury said. “Our main focus would be the opportunity for them to have swim lessons for that one hour beforehand and be able to confidently navigate through our city beach.”

After contacting other local entities that offer similar programs like the YMCA and Schweizer, Bradbury discovered that most day-camps are already waitlisted for summer of 2024, creating greater demand for the city’s program. 

During the meeting, two public commenters urged the council to reconsider prioritizing the lifeguard program, stating that the issue is a public safety concern. Both referenced a July 2023 council meeting where they heard council voice intentions to increase lifeguard wages in order to provide surveillance for this upcoming summer. 

No discussion from the council occurred and no action was taken at this meeting, as the presentation served as an update only.