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As per usual, Thursday’s Clark County Fiscal Court meeting featured several agenda items. 

Among them was a request from Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation for funds about replacing the Dectron system in the pool. 

Fortunately, such a request went through with flying colors. 

Up to $250,000 has been approved by the Court toward the operation, with a route of how to do so to be decided at a later date. 

Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Lewis spoke. 

“I’ve been working there long enough to tell you the Dectron is basically a large dehumidifier,” he said. “It repurposes the humidity and puts it back into the air to help keep the air regulated and keep the humidity down.” 

According to https://www.hts.com/product/dry-o-tron/#:~:text=Description,Structural%20Damage%20due%20to%20Humidity”., “at the same time, [Dectron] use[s] the same energy by products to increase comfort by controlling both pool and air temperature within the enclosure.” 

Such attributes provide comfort for those within the environment. 

However, as attested to by Lewis, the Dectron system at WCCPR hasn’t worked optimally dating back to even before he was hired. 

Thus, he has looked for financial support. 

“We started looking for bids to fix it and those bids started out around $40,000 [dollars]. Then, another company said there’s no way [that’s possible]. You’re looking at $110,000, and then they started going up,” he said. “That just means we can fix it … that it will be running in and it’s possible to last a month, it could last two months, [or] it could last a year, but it’s on the end of its life.” 

Amidst discussion with city staff, the possibility of having the unit replaced came to mind. 

Several clarifying questions were asked by different Magistrates, including Robert Blanton, Chris Davis, and Dan Konstantopoulos. 

City Manager Bruce Manley, also present, noted that the total principal balance of the project would be over $500,000. 

“I think that we can make a commitment today that we’re going to provide whatever amount that we all can agree upon,” said Magistrate Konstantopoulos.

Magistrate Steve Craycraft was curious about whether specific options such as searching for grants were available. 

“As a special purpose government entity, we’re very limited for grant opportunities,” Lewis said. “Our 501(c)(3) can apply for grants, but I don’t know that this would fall underneath the purviews for what they’re available to get.”

Ultimately, Magistrate Konstantopoulos’ motion that up to $250,000 be approved toward the Dectron System, with the Court’s next meeting to include an agenda item discussing the financing route to be taken, was approved 5-2. 

Craycraft and City Commissioner Ernest Pasley served as ‘no’ votes.