2004-05-03 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Session 1918 May 3, 2004 which University City stands would be well served by this general policy direction and this specific change. University City Council has long championed increased diversity and opening doors to all. The City Manager said that he believed we are fully able to react quickly and effectively to any adverse consequences. The City Manager mentioned that the current policy is to allow non-residents admission only when accompanied by a resident. This policy was reviewed by the Park Commission, which advised the City Council that they disagreed with it, so the decision now rests with the City Council. Mayor Adams declared the Public Hearing open at 7:40 p.m. Ethel Mariam, 7257 Amherst Avenue, commented that this policy was tried once before, that it did not work, it drove residents away, and she does not think it should be tried again. Kevin Moloney, 7201 Greenway Avenue, stated that he and his family are frequent users of the pool and that they are opposed to opening the pool to non-residents. He cited finding a "middle ground": allowing an introduction of use of the pool with a fee, and limiting use to non-residents from certain communities with season passes, at the very most. He opposed blanket non-resident use of the pool at any time. He mentioned witnessing destruction to locker rooms and bad behavior by children at the pool. He called for better marketing of the pool to University City residents to enable maximum benefits for those who pay taxes. Lynn Rossel, 7015 Olive Street, lives in Olivette but own a business, Rosco Electric, in University City. She is a previous home owner in University City and user of the pool. She came to represent the Olive Business Association to encourage the City to find other ways to bring revenue to the pool. She offered to help market the pool by including a flyer in her newsletter to advise business owners and their employees that they may use the pool. She also recommended using the pool for networking and other events, after hours, to encourage pool use. Karen Dille, 7206 Stanford Avenue, described herself as an enthusiastic pool user, and said that she opposed non-resident use. Since the pool has been renovated, she favors waiting a year to see how much use it attracts from residents and how additional support can be generated from within that group. The new policy allowing parties at night, she said, may bring more people to use the pool. Carol Rossel, 7407 Teasdale Avenue, described herself as a long-term resident of University City and as a former member of the Park Commission. She noted that the City is currently experiencing a "high" due to hard work of citizens who helped it through the "lows." She wants the City to retain the current "residents only and guest policy." Page 3