Council continues to search for ways to fund building pool

by Tom Chillemi –

The town council voted on May 26 to “authorize the town attorney to file a motion with the court requesting the ability to use funds in the amount of $500,000 from the Taber Trust Fund for use in the construction of the new pool.”

Current Councilor Larry Chowning, who also served on town council in the early 1980s, said the town’s requests to withdraw principal from the Taber Trust has been turned down by the court “numerous” times.

Pool plan

The town is in the planning stages of building a new pool to replace the 53-year-old pool that has been closed for safety reasons.

The town plans to apply for a grant that could pay for half of the pool. The grant is part of the Land and Water Conservation Fund through the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation in conjunction with the National Park Service.

It is a “reimbursement” grant, meaning the town must build and pay for the pool and it will get reimbursed by the grant.

“We are not going to be able to support the debt load that we would take on to build a pool and so we need to be a little more inventive and get the funding so that we can get it done,” said Councilor Bill Goldsmith, who serves as chairman of the pool committee and council’s finance committee. He added that the reimbursement grant and charter membership to the pool may help replenish principal that is withdrawn from the Taber Fund.

Grant possible

The town plans to apply for a grant that could pay for half of the pool…