SANDPOINT — While a sewer collections improvement plan took up the first half of the Sandpoint City Council’s meeting Wednesday, the city’s long-standing lifeguard program attracted the most attention.

With the city not having enough certified lifeguard applicants to properly staff the beach, City Parks and Recreation officials asked the council to suspend the program for a year. That request was unanimously rejected by the council.

The program has given to the community for 80-plus years and it is valuable to the health of the public, Councilwoman Deb Ruehle said.

Currently Sandpoint City Beach does not have enough certified lifeguard applicants to properly staff the beach.

“Our community has enjoyed the lifeguard program since the mid 1930s, Parks and Recreation Director Kim Woodruff said in a letter addressed to the city.

“As manager of this program for over 30 years I’ve seen the benefits (true lifesaving) and some of the challenges of the program. My particular concern, right or wrong, is the practice of parents dropping off or permitting kids lacking swim skills at the beach unsupervised and depending on the guards to assure their well-being.”

Staff has been increasingly struggling with that issue, Woodruff said during his presentation to the council. A full staff is 15 to 16 lifeguards and only nine have applied for the position.

Woodruff said he was worried about falsely representing the beach’s safety and wanted to be transparent with the beach’s lack of coverage for the summer of 2020.

“It is critical that all who enjoy the beach clearly understand their role to supervise and take responsibility for their own,” Woodruff said.

Three residents spoke during the meeting, echoing the city’s support for the program. One resident was a retired swim coach and offered to help in any way possible.

Rognstad suggested tabling the issue and looking for other options such as opening half of the beach or displaying appropriate signage. Woodruff suggested putting community emphasis on building a junior lifeguard training program to keep interest in aquatic safety and protection for the community.

“I really appreciate this council standing up for this,” Councilman Andy Groat said. “I got my start as a lifeguard and there is no way I would support this going away.”

Woodruff said the bottom line is being true and honest with what role the parents have with their children’s safety.

“it’s an extremely stressful situation and an important responsibility,” he added. “Not everyone can be a lifeguard.”

Suspension of the lifeguard program was rejected and alternate options will be considered until council reconvenes.

Earlier in the meeting, the council approved spending $42,100 to develop a budget and list of improvements as part of a sewer collections improvement plan being developed for the city by J-U-B Engineers. Amanda Wilson, Infrastructure and Development Services manager, provided background on J-U-B’s previous work with the city and indicated a need for greater funding in order to make data-based recommendations.

Wilson said phase one and phase two involved collecting data on reducing inflow and infiltrations into the city sanitation sewer collection system in preparation for future wastewater treatment plant upgrades. With the approved budget in Amendment No. 3 her team plans to list and quantify public infrastructure improvements, including dollar amounts and schedules of the replacements and repairs. The city hasn’t attempted to develop a comprehensive list since 2008. J-U-B’s last update for city council was four months ago.

Following approval of J-U-B’s request, Bonner County Economic Development Corporation (BCEDC) received $10,000 from the city for the COVID-19 response and recovery business program. The program was launched public on Friday and has received positive feedback from participating businesses.

As much as 35 percent of employees in the region anticipate not returning to businesses which has business owners questioning if they will be fully staffed when the city reopens in full. Heading into May, owners also anticipate difficulty making their regular payments and are worried about receiving the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds, which have yet to be loaded into their accounts. Businesses have also been inquiring what is needed in terms of protective gear and protocol to comply with all health standards.

Immunity laws are being created for businesses all over the world, specifically states like Utah, and these new policies have had some residents calling in to discuss liability of customers, should they test positive COVID-19 and speculate they contracted the novel coronavirus through a particular business. Gov. Brad Little has indicated interest in looking into these protections for the state’s local businesses moving forward, but no updates are available on this issue at this time.

Aly De Angelus can be reached by email at adeangelus@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @AlyDailyBee.