MARTIN COUNTY — Residents urged local government and school leaders to expand public access to swimming pools during a recent joint meeting of county, municipal and school district officials, arguing that greater access could improve water safety, fitness opportunities and quality of life across the county.
Several speakers called for consideration of a referendum that would help fund expanded aquatic facilities and programming, including reopening broader public access to the pool at Martin County High School.
One resident said access to swimming instruction is a critical safety issue in a county surrounded by water and asked officials to support placing the issue before voters.
"We need to ensure that every single child in Martin County, regardless of their family's income or their zip code, learns how to swim and how to survive an unexpected fall in the water. I firmly believe that Martin Swims can fill the gaps. That's why I'm standing here today to ask for your combined leadership and explicit support by supporting the ballot referendum," the resident said.
Martin Swims, the nonprofit promoting the proposal, suggested a funding model in which property owners would pay less than $10 annually to support operations at the Martin County High School pool.
Another resident described the challenges local swimmers face when seeking access to aquatic facilities and outlined a range of programs she believes could benefit the community.
"It's so difficult to understand why Martin County has only one public pool. As someone deeply committed to fitness, I often have to drive more than 30 minutes to a different county just to find a pool that's open to swim before work," she said. "The opportunities created by reopening the Martin County High School pool are endless. Swim lessons that could save lives, fitness programs for working adults, senior wellness classes, camps, adaptive programs for individuals with special needs, parent and child classes, rehabilitation, and competitive training for young athletes."
Martin County School District Superintendent Michael Maine said the high school's pool remains operational and available for use, though scheduling and access logistics remain ongoing considerations.
"The pool is not closed. It's actually beautiful. We just had some boat races there not too long ago. It's clean," Maine said. "The board invested over $650,000 into upgrading the pool. The ideas that we would need to flush out or work on is the timing of when the pool is being requested to be utilized."
Maine said he is open to discussions about expanding community access and exploring additional programming opportunities.
"I wrote down July opening of the pool, maybe some summer camps, swim survival skills, and maybe some programs that we could begin to discuss or talk about that would be feasible," he said. "I would like to set up a time to meet with Martin Swims in their new format and figure out a way that we could potentially make that happen if it works on both sides."
County Commissioner Edward Ciampi said he believes residents should have an opportunity to weigh in on the issue through a public vote and suggested multiple approaches could be considered.
"I think all of us would agree with what we heard," Ciampi said. "We have been very fortunate to have the Martin County High School, and I know that the school board, you all, and the boards before you have worked hard to keep it going. I think a concept of whether it is through the school district, if that's your prerogative, or community type situation, I think having the opportunity for the public to speak would be a good suggestion."
"I can only speak obviously for myself, but I'm not opposed if legally and logistically there was a way to have a referendum from the public," Ciampi continued.
School Board member Christia Lee Roberts suggested local governments begin identifying potential sites that could accommodate future aquatic facilities.
"I'd like to ask maybe if the county can look at their property inventory and see where they would have possible space, placement, etc. for swimming pools. I mean, I know that when you look at our footprints for our properties, they may look large, but what we actually have on them is a little bit different. But I think since that's also government-owned property, and maybe the city and Indian town could do the same under their inventory of property and kind of look at what they would have available, and maybe we could have that back at our next meeting," Roberts said.
Stuart City Commissioner Eula Clark also expressed support for further discussions, noting that requests for a city pool have been raised repeatedly over the years.
"We've had the same dilemma at the city. People have asked for years and years, can the city have a pool, whether it's a 10th street or whatever. But listening to the very excellent presentation and how this affects people's lives and their careers and opportunities for scholarships, I think we do need to have that meeting and we do need to look at this as to providing aquatics in Martin County," Clark said.
No formal action was taken during the meeting, but officials indicated they plan to continue discussions on expanding aquatic opportunities and public pool access in Martin County.