Beth Dotson, who has been the Cuba city pool manager for the past two years, was requested by the Parks and Recreation Board on March 10 to help answer questions and provide insight on issues at the facility.

Beth Kight, parks and rec board member, conducted research to find places to train lifeguards.

“This is called Backyard Lifeguards out of St. Louis,” Kight said. 

Backyard Lifeguards will come to Cuba to train lifeguards, or they can train the pool manager to be a lifeguard instructor (LGI), which seemed more appealing to the rest of the board. They can also train water safety instructors (WSI) who then teach swim lessons.

Cuba was also offered a reduced rate to train its lifeguards on May 15-17 by Brett Bailey, from Meramec Adventure Ranch, for the use of Cuba’s pool to train their own lifeguards.

The board approved the use of the city pool for the dates requested by Meramec Adventure Ranch to train their lifeguards with a 5-0 vote, but are holding off on having Brett Bailey train Cuba’s lifeguards until they get a better idea about the cost.

A vague reference to a woman from Fort Leonard Wood was made. She would come to Cuba to provide lifeguard training, or provide lessons both in the pool and online.

Kight suggested having punch cards instead of season passes, $60 for 20 punches. Once those punches run out, another card would need to be purchased. The daily entrance price for the pool is $5, so it would be like a discount card, where the price to get in would be $3 per punch.

Currently, season passes must be purchased for each individual, with the rate set at $130 for a family of three to six members, and  $10 for any additional person over that. However, speculation is that season pass holders would share with family and friends.

The board also suggested raising prices for parties when lifeguards have to be paid, concessions are offered and the pool staff does all the clean up afterward. Rental rates last year were between $100-$150, depending on the number of people.

Dotson also pointed out a re-entry issue if visitors leave the pool, but want to return.

“We have a rule that if you leave, you either can’t come back or you have to pay an entry fee again,” Dotson said. “There was issues with, you know, teenagers wanting to leave and go drink and people get high or whatever, they come back and cause problems. You have people who want to leave and go get lunch or whatever, and come back.”

Many people would leave and argue that they had a season pass to get back in for free. Getting rid of the passes in favor of the value punch card would eliminate these arguments. For visitors who leave and return,  the punch card would have to be punched again.

No action was taken to change the season pass policy.

The Cuba Board of Aldermen decided on March 3 to let the parks and rec board choose the new color for the new pickleball courts.

The board approved blue for the courts with a 5-0 vote.

In other business, aldermen tabled the decision to set a date for the April ribbon cutting for the pickleball courts until they have a better idea of when construction will end.

Aimee Jones-Halbert, on behalf of the Crawford County Fair Board, requested permission to add a concrete walkway and pad for the wash rack at the fairgrounds.

Any project materials and labor would be donated, at no cost to the city.

A motion to send their recommendation to the board of aldermen was approved to grant them permission for these projects with a 5-0 vote.

Jennifer Moreland, of the Cuba Ball Program, introduced herself and gave an update.

“So currently we’re having sign-ups, and then, we have t-ball, baseball, softball, coach pitch and adult leagues,” Moreland said.

They’ve had a low number of sign-ups so far, but they tend to take kids throughout the season, which starts in the first or second week of May and runs for eight weeks.

Comptroller Jennifer Basham presented the board with the first initial draft of the 2027 fiscal year budget. Since it is due back to Basham by March 31, the next meeting was set at 6:30 p.m. on March 24 to discuss it.