APATHY, BUDGET DRIES UP POOL.Byline: Jim Skeen Do you mean:
ROSAMOND Rosamond, wife of the Lombard king Alboin Rosamond (rŏz`əmənd), fl. c.570, wife of the Lombard king Alboin. The daughter of King Kunimund of the Gepidae, a Germanic people, she was captured by Alboin, who had defeated and killed - Kern Kern, river, 155 mi (249 km) long, rising in the S Sierra Nevada Mts., E Calif., and flowing south, then southwest to a reservoir in the extreme southern part of the San Joaquin valley. The river has Isabella Dam as its chief facility. County plans to mothball moth·ball n. 1. A marble-sized ball, originally of camphor but now of naphthalene, stored with clothes to repel moths. 2. mothballs a. Rosamond's only public swimming pool this spring, capping a saga of unrealized developer plans, tight county budgets and community apathy apathy /ap·a·thy/ (ap´ah-the) lack of feeling or emotion; indifference.apathet´ic ap·a·thy n. Lack of interest, concern, or emotion; indifference. . The pool is to be filled with sand and covered with asphalt asphalt (ăs`fôlt, –fălt), brownish-black substance used commonly in road making, roofing, and waterproofing. Chemically, it is a natural mixture of hydrocarbons. , which will protect it and allow it to be re-opened if county officials find a funding source - which doesn't exist now. ``There is no hope at this time - there's no money,'' said Kern County Supervisor Don Maben, whose district includes Rosamond. ``That's why we are going to mothball it.'' The Kern County Engineering and Survey Services Department is looking to award a contract within the next few weeks to have the pool filled with sand and covered with asphalt. The work is expected to cost about $50,000 and to be completed by May, said Charles Lackey, the department's director. The Westpark pool, located on 40th Street West at Pacific Avenue, is unique as the only pool Kern County government operates. All others in the county are run by city governments or by special recreation tax districts. However, the county is in tight financial times. An effort last fall to get homeowners to approve an assessment to finance pool operation died when only 67 people signed a petition seeking the vote. The pool was built as part of the Westpark housing development in the early 1990s. Developer Kaufman and Broad entered into an agreement in 1993 to form a county services area, covering the 500 homes in the development, as a funding mechanism to keep the pool and adjoining park operating. At the time the district was formed, it was expected that additional homes built by Kaufman and Broad would be incorporated into the district and the owners would also pay park-pool fees. However, flood-plain issues prompted Kaufman and Broad to halt home building. Although Westpark homeowners are charged $135 a year, the assessment doesn't raise enough money to fully support the pool and park. Kaufman and Broad subsidized sub·si·dize tr.v. sub·si·dized, sub·si·diz·ing, sub·si·diz·es 1. To assist or support with a subsidy. 2. To secure the assistance of by granting a subsidy. the county service area until the summer of 2001. The Kern County Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. was able to keep the pool open last summer through discretionary funds. The money was granted with the expectation that the community would find a new funding mechanism for the pool. Last fall's petition drive was aimed at putting a $50 annual tax on the ballot for property owners' approval. The drive sputtered out: only 67 out of the needed 1,500 voters signed the petition. |
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