-- — Batesville Memorial Pool attendance was high this summer “because it was really hot,” reported pool co-manager Alex Davis to the Batesville Parks and Recreation Board Aug. 15.

Mayor Rick Fledderman said chemical use was up as well. Davis explained, “With the heat and the humidity, the pool will burn through chlorine a lot more.”

He discussed two problems. After several persons  fell off the diving board because its textured surface had worn off, the board was closed. BPRB will have to decide whether to fix or replace it.

The sealant affixing the pool liner to old concrete  pulled away  near the jets overnight. When employees arrived, “there was a bubble (of lining) up to the top of the water” with water shooting behind it. The pool’s opening was delayed until guards used their body weights to force the water to the outside of the liner from the inside.

Fledderman asked,  “Did it compromise the concrete on the wall?” The co-manager said the street department’s leaders are aware the concrete will need to be replaced.

Using Brum Woods trails has just become safer. Friends of Brum Woods wanted a crosswalk connecting Huntersville Road’s east and west loops at that road’s intersection with State Road 229, but Indiana Department of Transportation officials “were totally against that,” said Parks Commissioner Mike Baumer. Instead, a crosswalk has been installed at the top of a hill just north of the intersection. Workers cut brush back from the road and the area will be seeded with grass soon. The crosswalk has been marked and symbols of hikers were painted on the road in both lanes Aug. 15. Stop signs for walkers and bikers have been erected.

INDOT officials are discussing a possible four-way stop at the Central Avenue-Mulberry Street intersection. Baumer maintained, “That’s something that would be a big benefit to the trail.” If that happens, he is lobbying INDOT leaders for another safety measure, a bike lane on the west side of Mulberry Street from the woods parking lot north to where a sidewalk begins. INDOT has to have permission from the railroad to do it as the lane would cross train tracks.

The Liberty Park tennis courts have been resurfaced, he reported. Where roots were coming up, blacktop was cut out and repaved.  After cracks were fixed, anonymously donated paint and sealer were applied. Workers researched how to do the job. “It turned out really well.”  The only cost to the city was for a company to re-line both the tennis and basketball courts.

Tim Hunter, presiding at the meeting, asked about improvement projects for the rest of the year. “If we had money, we would,” Baumer replied. He wants to inexpensively correct several drainage issues.

Debbie Blank can be contacted at 812-934-4343, Ext. 113; or debbie.blank@ batesvilleheraldtribune.com.