Lifeguards will be stationed at just one of the city’s four beaches this summer.
Parks and Facilities Director Amy Lovisek said that three lifeguards have been hired to work at Bond Beach in Lakeport.
She said her department received only three acceptable applications. It was decided to assign them to Bond Beach on Lake Opechee because three lifeguards can adequately staff the beach, which averages about 35 swimmers at any one time.
However, the city’s other beaches — Weirs Beach, Opechee Park Beach, and Bartlett Beach — will have no lifeguards for the season. She said there is no money in the Parks and Recreation budget to pay for lifeguards at all beaches, “and they are hard to find.”
Lovisek said the capacity of Weirs Beach will be higher this year because of the improving COVID situation. This summer’s capacity will be 1,500 people, she said. That’s a 50 percent increase from last summer’s cap of 1,000, but still lower than its rated capacity of 2,200.
Lovisek said the department is still recruiting for other seasonal workers.
She said the department is still looking to hire three more counselors for the day-camp program, and three more workers for seasonal maintenance, which includes mowing lawns at the city’s parks, ballfields, and playgrounds.
There are also openings for beach caretakers for the summer.
The Bond Beach lifeguards are scheduled to start on June 26 and will work through mid-August. Two will be assigned at any one time from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, Lovisek said.
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