The Garnett City Commission has decided to repair and possibly plan to replace the municipal swimming pool. They will purchase a new filter system for the pool, estimated to cost between $30,000 to $40,000. At the last meeting, Commissioner Mark Locke made the motion to fund the immediate repair and begin a study of a sales tax bond to fund a new investment there. This, after City Manager Travis Wilson gave three options, either doing nothing with the facility and not reopening it for the summer of 2025, purchasing the filtration system and making no additional plan, or purchasing the system to open the pool this summer and begin investigating financing for a new pool. In July, an engineering study of the facility revealed the city’s failure to meet low to moderate income population requirements most likely would prevent it from receiving grant assistance for construction of a new facility. In late 2022 a pool company from Saint Louis estimated a new pool would cost from $2.5 to $3.5 million. Locke said even the 2022 costs were too much to commit, and the city has more important things to deal with than spending $3 million on a new swimming pool.
