There are a few contested races in Wright County during this year’s city/school elections.
In Rowan, incumbent Mayor Lennea Groom will be challenged by Dale Hollman.
In Belmond, incumbent Mayor Frank Beminio will be challenged by Calista Henry.
Also on the ballot for Belmond residents this year is a bond referendum that, if passed, would use up to $3 million to help fund a new pool. The city closed the Luick Memorial Swimming Pool after the 2023 season and has not been open since due to leaking problems and other deteriorating conditions at the pool.
“The main concern had been that the pool was losing about 30,000 gallons of water a day, starting at some point during the 2023 summer. So that was a big concern. They did not know where the leak was, and it was going to be very hard to determine that. There were a couple of other safety concerns that had been brought up by the health inspection, and then there have been some changes in regulations that most pools in North Iowa don’t meet.”
That is Lee Ann Waltzing who is a member of the citizen’s committee in Belmond. The committee has raised over $2 million for the pool project up to this point. Waltzing tells RadioOnTheGo News the total cost for the project, which includes the demolition of the current pool, is approximately $5.2 million.
“We’re pretty excited about that. The main concern appears to be that people are worried that their taxes are still going to go up because of the pool. We’ve sent some flyers and we’ve put ads explaining what the council did to attempt to explain to the public that that’s not the case. They’re going to use local option sales tax money to pay down on the debt that is incurred by this bond if it goes out.”
The citizen’s committee will host one final town hall meeting Tuesday, October 28th to inform the public about repairs needed at the pool, financing and the committee’s fundraising efforts up to this point. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Leinbach Center.
More information on the project can be found on the Luick Memorial Swimming Pool Facebook page
