WEST SENECA, N.Y. (WKBW) — The summer weather Monday night was so nice it just made you want to dance. It also had a lot of folks in West Seneca ready for a dip in the pool.
"We try to go to as many splash pads as we can and playgrounds too," Grandmother Bonnie Patton said about her, her husband, and grandson, "He loves them both. He's a water baby."
The West Seneca Veterans Park and Pool is something Patton said they look forward to each year. After this community fought to have its pool stay open, when it comes to hours, capacity, and lifeguards there are some lingering questions.
"I kind of hear about it and I guess they were having a lot of difficulty but I guess they said they did get more," Patton said.
Gary Dickson, West Seneca Town Supervisor said lifeguards will work five-hour shifts and they currently have 33 aquatic staff members. He said that is more than enough to fully staff the pool.
"We hope to be open 12 hours a day on weekdays, six hours a day on weekends," Dickson said. "So that's a full schedule."
A few neighbors like Courtney Frances Fallen said although the Board has agreed to reopen the pool they believe mismanagement is taking place when it comes to when the lifeguards are required to work.
"So, we need eight per shift, five on share, three to have full rotation and they've made it ten," Frances Fallen said. "If we don't have nine or we don't have ten the pools not going to operate at full capacity."
However, Council member Robert Breidenstein, said lifeguard staffing most likely will not impact whether or not the pool will be open.
"Even if one or two or three of the guards call out sick we can still open up the pools and there not be concerns and shutdowns," Breidenstein said.
Frances Fallen said another issue was the new pool capacity.
"They've cut capacity from 300 to 207 which is going to make the pool underutilized," Frances Fallen said. "They did not include the deck space."
However, Dickson said they received the new capacity regulations from the Code Enforcement Officer and assure residents decisions are being made with safety top of mind.
"This is what our code enforcement officer has given us and this is what we're going with," Dickson said.
Frances Fallen said they'll still be filing an appeal with the New York State Division of Codes and Standards.
The West Seneca Veteran's Pool will open June 30 at 10 a.m.
