- Nephi City Council voted 3 to 2 in favor of selling snacks at the Nephi Pool
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By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Three council members voted for and two voted against selling snacks at the Nephi City Municipal Swimming Pool.
Therefore, since majority wins, there will be snack sales allowed at the pool for the remainder of the season.
After discussing the proposal for the second time, Justin Seely, council member made the motion to allow the sales. Council member Wayne Jarrett seconded the motion and Brent Bowles, council member, voted in favor.
Council members Robert Painter and Kent Park voted against the proposal.
“Life guards must be rotated while they are on duty,” said Randy McKnight, city administrator.
Because of the issue of remaining in the sun their entire shift and remaining alert to the needs of those in the pool, the guards are rotated in and out of the sun.
“The staff thinks that it will help with the rotation to have the life guards who are not on duty rotation to man the snack sales counter,” said McKnight.
Clark Wood, city employee, will build a counter in the viewing area, where the snacks will be sold, he said.
People do leave the pool, buy their snacks and return.
“They do not think they will have more cleanup,” McKnight said.
In addition, the staff did not think that the things sold at the pool would compete with any businesses in the vicinity. They are proposing to sell pizza and breadsticks which will be obtained from a local vendor.
A warming oven will be needed at the pool but the vendor said the pizza could be delivered within a 20-minute interval so that not a lot of product would need to be kept on site.
Snow cones are also to be sold.
McKnight said the city owns a machine that can make the type of ice necessary for the snow cones.
“No food handling permit will be required,” said McKnight.
Other items to be sold will be drinks and prepackaged snack items.
Some experiments have been conducted at the pool and it was found that there was a desire from patrons for this type of service. In addition, all nearby community pools have such a service.
No glass containers will be sold.
“The staff thinks that sales would help off-set the running of the pool,” said McKnight.
The city always puts more into the facility each summer than they make.
Painter said his objection was not the selling of snacks at the pool but the method selected.
“I thought we were going to look into having vending machines,” said Painter. “The vendor would put in the machines and once a month would pay us a percentage of the sales.”
There would be no work on the part of pool employees to oversee sales.
Bowles said he thought, from his experience with the school booster club, that the sales would make money.
“The profit/loss margin is better this way (allowing staff to place orders from vendors over having vending machines),” said Bowles.
Park’s issue was accountability. He was concerned about making a profit from sales if there was not accountability on the part of those making the sales.
Jarrett said the proposal would just be a trial for the next few weeks.
“We can try it as a trial for the remainder of the season, if it doesn’t work, we can say no next year,” he said.
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