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Noting that the Del Norte Healthcare District is “moving into a new phase,” director Michael Young said that includes collaborating with Crescent City to offer free group swim lessons.

The countywide special district typically looks to partner with other community organizations seeking to improve Del Norters’ health such as offering scholarships for students entering the nursing program at College of the Redwoods, Young said.

But this year, the DNHCD is “looking” at the community’s “more comprehensive health care needs,” Young said — hence donating $45,000 to the city for lessons at the Fred Endert Municipal Pool.

“Knowing how to swim provides for prevention of accidents and drowning,” he said, pointing to the community’s commercial and recreational fishing background as well as residents recreating on local beaches and in the Smith River. “Not to mention that swimming is good healthy exercise. It’s something we can support.”

Four City Councilors at a special meeting Thursday approved a resolution amending the city’s 2021-22 budget to include the $45,000 donation. Mayor Jason Greenough was absent.

The Healthcare District’s donation came after the Crescent City Council authorized staff to hold a grand reopening of the Fred Endert Municipal Pool on July 5. After nearly a year and a half of being shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all programs, including lap swims, will be available to pool patrons.

On Thursday's consent calendar, the Council approved the pool's new fee schedule.

However, though the city has been able to offer swim lessons since April 12, the earliest start date for people to take advantage of the free group sessions is July 19, according to City Manager Eric Wier.

If the city sees increased demand, Wier said, staff may return to the Council with a proposal to request additional dollars from the Del Norte Healthcare District.

According to Young, the Del Norte Healthcare District adopted its 2021-22 budget Tuesday, which included the donation. The district proposed using $5,000 of those dollars to promote the swim lessons and the partnership between it and the city, Young said.

The remaining $40,000 would cover what the fees would have been for group swim lessons, according to Young. He said the healthcare district came up with that dollar figure based on the amount of revenue the city realized for group swim lessons in 2019, which was about $38,000.

“We increased it a little bit recognizing if lessons were free, people would take advantage of it,” Young told Councilors on Thursday. “Hopefully this is something we can continue on for more than this year.”

According to the city’s staff report, swim lessons generated $44,140 in revenue during the 2017-18 fiscal year. This included the cost of individual swim lessons, according to the staff report.

If every group lesson was filled to capacity this year, the city would generate about $54,000 in revenue, according to the staff report.

Young said if the partnership between the healthcare district and city is successful, his colleagues may be willing to support future donations for swim lessons.

“The entire board is enthusiastic in favor of it,” he said. “We’re hoping to do other things in the future as we step into these kinds of programs. This is our first step.”

According to Crescent City Recreation Director Holly Wendt, all its lifeguards are certified swim instructors, so staffing isn’t an issue.

“We’ve already got swim lessons built in based upon what the community asked for,” she said. “We’ll continue to engage the community to see what their needs are.”

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