LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — State health officials are granting the Lexington Athletic Club an extension to comply with new regulations that require lifeguards at large pools, the club announced.
A previous extension from the Lexington-Fayette Health Department was set to expire on August 10, forcing the club to close its pool because they couldn't afford lifeguards, which they said would cost nearly $200,000 a year.
Their latest extension comes from the state and will last until the beginning of next year. The club is hoping that by then, the regulations will have been officially updated.
Amanda Mays Bledsoe, a state senator who represents parts of Fayette, Mercer, Boyle, and Woodford Counties, said she first started getting messages about the pool’s situation last Wednesday.
The extension came after she had a discussion with officials from the state department of health, she said. She told them what was taking place wasn’t acceptable.
“I was very pleased the state department of health reached out, and I was able to talk to them and get us an extension until January,” she said. “That will allow the pool to stay open, and that’s the most important thing.”
Dr. Stack, Kentucky’s commissioner for public health, also met last week with the Lexington-Fayette Department of Health as they looked for a short-term solution, Bledsoe said.
The regulations were written by the health department, not lawmakers, she said. She thinks they were written without pools like the one at the Lexington Athletic Club in mind.
“I think they were really looking at simply the size of a pool and deciding if a pool was over 2000 square feet, they need to have a lifeguard,” she said.
Through a subcommittee, legislators have oversight over the regulations the health department comes up with, Bledsoe said. She was neither on the subcommittee nor a member of the Senate when the subcommittee reviewed the regulations in December.
“I think they should scrutinize everything and have different people look at it,” said Judy Niblett, a Lexington Health Department member who applauded Bledsoe’s efforts to keep the pool she relies on to exercise open.
“I think we provide a lot of legislative oversight,” Bledsoe said. “It’s just hard to catch everything, and sometimes pools like this that have been around a long time just got lost.
Bledsoe said the eventual outcome should be a common-sense solution to ensure lap pools like the one at LAC aren't treated the same as a city or outdoor recreational pool. It’s up to the state health department to make the changes. She said the opportunity for compromise exists, but she isn’t sure exactly what it is.
If no change is made, she said she’s committed to having a conversation with other lawmakers about potential legislation.
