By: Tammy Chamley | Editor, tchamley@ncppub.com
Unlike many area pools, the Trent Pool isn’t the traditional chlorine filled-cement water tank but a gravel bottomed spring fed body of water. This area has been used as the Trent Pool since 1952.
An auction was scheduled for July of 2020 to have the area sold to the highest bidder due to the property not having adequate insurance. The community of Trent had other plans and were able to form a new board for the pool as well as found suitable insurance to cover the property as well as the board members in case of any lawsuit or misconduct.
The new board members for the Trent Pool are Julie Wood, Stacy Franka, Lisa Brown, Tammy Wendell and Morrie Kirkegaard.
An informational meeting was held in Trent on Monday, June 29 to update the community on the progress and plans for the future for the Trent Pool.
Input from the community was requested on ideas for ways to make the property as great as it can be. “We would really like to see it become a park,” Wood stated. “Where people in the area can get more use out of it.”
“We are purposing five nice campsites with water and sewer,” Morrie Kirkegaard, President of the board added. “These would be exclusive. They could be tucked in there nice. It would be $7,500 that you would be taking in at the spring of the year. That helps you get rolling, it might not everything we need, but it will get us our lifeguards and get our pool rolling.” The area where the campsites would be located on the flat land where the mud volleyball takes place during the annual Beach Bash held at the pool. Kirkegaard is also the owner of the campground adjacent to the swimming pool and has offered to maintain the added campsites. “We could have City Park stickers for purchase that way we have a little control on the traffic,” Kirkegaard added.
“We are really going to try to take as much pressure off the city for anything as we possibly can,” Wood said. “They have been very good in the past. We think if we do some things to get a money cushion there, we can make it.” Trent resident, Brandy Ament-Fehlhafer donated $300 to help cover costs of the bill that was required to be paid to Sutton Auction for the advertising of the planned auction that will no longer be held.
The insurance that was found is $1M worth of coverage for the pool. This policy is awaiting approval at the time of publication. “I think the reason they drained the pool was they were afraid the board members might get sued,” Wendell explained. “They have another policy called Directors and Officers Insurance. This insurance covers every board member that is on the board.”
Work parties will be planned for the near future to clean up the pool and the grounds surrounding it. “We are hoping to have a cleanup in about 30 days,” Stacy Franka said. “We will figure out a date and time and get it out there.”
The board intends to apply for a 501C3 status to be tax exempt and apply for available grants. Fundraisers are also in the works to bring in donations to help with the upkeep of the pool. This fall, a farmer’s market as well as a fall festival are being planned to bring Trent and surrounding communities together for a great cause.
Along with the camping sites, other ideas that were brought to the table were walking paths, spray park, gazebo and playground equipment.
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Tammy Chamley, Managing Editor Contact Info: Tel: 428-5600 |