Council raises pool rates, hires staff

by Nathan Arneal
Published 3/27/24

The North Bend City Council began preparing for summer at its March 19 meeting.

Councilman Ken Streff, the chairman of the pool and parks department, offered his proposed staff for the city pool and addressed its financial situation after Nebraska’s minimum wage increase.

Madison Winkelman will be the pool manager with Kyler Hellbusch and Emma Thomsen as assistants. Full-time guards will be Madison Bishop, Anna Dunker, Kellen McLaughlin, Braxton Chvatal and Lauren Sterup. Substitute guards will be Lindsey Emanuel, Maya Kirschenmann, Alexis Rasmussen, Emma Williams, Alex Hild, Reid Karnatz and Drew Sterup.
Normally, returning pool staffers received a 25¢ per hour raise over the previous year. This year, as the minimum wage increased from $10.50 to $12 on Jan. 1, the raise will have to be $1.75.

Streff said last year the pool spent $39,000 on wages. That will increase to just over $44,000 this year.

The pool operates at an annual loss of about $20,000. To maintain that level, admission fees will have to increase 14% to match the wage increase. Rounding off to round numbers, that brings an family pass to $175, an individual pass to $75 and the daily admission to $4.50, up from $4 last year.

Nebraska will have more minimum wage increases in the next two years until it reaches $15 in 2026.

“This is the situation we’re in across Nebraska,” Streff said. “With our minimum wage hikes and the inflation on top of it, this stuff is looking pretty darn expensive across the board.”

Streff’s proposed staffing and admission rates were approved by the council.

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