The Solvang City Council has approved plans to implement a seven-week community swim program that would bring public swim back to the Santa Ynez Valley this summer for the first time in years.

According to staff, the program is scheduled to run from June 15 through July 31 at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School, 2975 Mission Drive in Santa Ynez, using the campus pool for recreational swim and swim lessons.

Recreational swim would be offered from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday, while instructor-led swim lessons would be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

Solvang Parks & Recreation Director Jenny McClurg said public swimming has not been available locally since the summer of 2019, when the high school pool last operated in partnership with the Stuart C. Gildred YMCA and Santa Ynez Valley Youth Recreation. 

“In talking to our community, the demand for public swim has remained consistent,” she said. “That was also seen in all of our surveys for the parks and recreation master plan.”

McClurg said the program would be administered through an existing partnership between Solvang and Buellton that shares resources and supports joint recreational programming.

Under that arrangement, she said, Solvang would hire and manage lifeguards and swim instructors, while Buellton would handle program operations and participant registration.

McClurg estimated the overall cost at about $60,000, and said both expenses and any revenue generated would be split evenly between the two cities.

“This initiative will promote water safety among our youth, provide a place for children and families to cool off, and create a fun, engaging environment for the entire community,” she said.

McClurg said several coordination steps still need to be completed before the program launches, including finalizing program hours, updating the cities’ partnership agreement, revising liability waivers specific to the pool and submitting a facility use request to the high school.

She added that council approval was needed so the city could begin hiring seasonal staff “on a tight timeline.”

To operate the pool, McClurg said, Solvang plans to hire up to seven part-time, seasonal employees without benefits, consisting of one lead lifeguard and up to six lifeguard and swim instructors. 

During discussion, Councilman Mark Infanti asked where the city would find instructors, and suggested recruiting local high school students already involved in aquatics, such as water polo players and swim team members. 

McClurg agreed, adding that the city has the tools to train them to teach.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Orona asked how much of the estimated $60,000 cost could be offset, excluding potential grants. 

McClurg said she believed the cities could recoup at least half through participant fees, and cited the popularity of previous summer public swim programs.

“Sometimes they had 50 kids for a rec swim,” she said. “I understand that a lot of camps in town will bring their kids. We know we’re probably going to have at least 30 kids each day with these camps that are around town that would pay normal pricing.”

When asked about the daily staffing schedule and hours, McClurg said staffing levels would be dynamic and depend on daily attendance.

“If we don’t have a ton of people coming to a rec swim, we don’t need that many lifeguards, or if our swim lessons aren’t full, we don’t need that many swim instructors,” she said. “It really depends on who’s coming.”

During public comment, local father and aquatics professional Robert Dwyer said the other local options — the Dunn School pool and the YMCA — require expensive summer passes or gym memberships.

“I can tell you I’m speaking for an awful lot of folks in this community who see this need,” he said.

Dwyer cited statistics on youth drowning, and said children need a place to practice and retain the skills they learn in swim lessons.

“As important as the swim lessons are for everybody, the chance to go and have, you know, unstructured play time in the water that’s supervised by professionals is equally important,” he said.

City Manager Randy Murphy said the summer program also could serve as “good advertising” for the city’s ongoing effort to fundraise for the planned Santa Ynez Valley Aquatics Center at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School.

He said bringing residents back to the current pool, which he described as in “pretty sad shape overall,” could help illustrate the need for a new facility.

The council voted 5-0 to move forward with the summer swim program, clearing the way for the city to begin hiring staff.