On Saturday, July 15, the Mineola Community Pool resumed its regular hours, reinstating the Early Bird Swim from 8 - 9:45 a.m. for all those 18 years of age and older and its 9 a.m. Aquasize classes Tuesday through Friday.

Each summer, lifeguard shortages are an obstacle that must be overcome by pools and beaches. This was no exception for the Village of Mineola this summer.

The lack of lifeguards caused the Mineola Pool to reduce its hours and became a source of frustration for at least one resident who sent a written complaint to Mineola Mayor Jack Martins.

In response to a shortage of qualified lifeguards at the opening of the pool season, June 17, the pool management decided to reduce the morning hours - similar to what is done annually at the season's end - rather than eliminate larger programs such as swim classes or general swimming during peak afternoon or weekend hours. At that time, the Village of Mineola also committed to hiring as many lifeguards as needed on a rolling basis and increase morning hours incrementally as staffing levels allowed.

By law, the Mineola Community Pool is required to have 19 Nassau County-certified lifeguards for full operation. The Village of Mineola budgets for 23 in order to allow pool managers flexibility in lifeguard scheduling. As of the week before the June 17 opening, 21 of the 23 lifeguard positions were filled. By the time the pool opened, nine of the 21 lifeguards hired decided to seek other opportunities, leaving the community pool facing a last-minute lifeguard shortage. By then, most certified lifeguards had accepted positions with other municipal pools or area beaches.

Mineola starts its pool hiring process in mid to late January by sending out applications. Interviews are conducted during school vacation weeks in February and April and are continued, as needed, until the opening of the pool in mid-June. As of May 1, the Community Pool had season commitments from 21 lifeguards.

"It's sad that certain lifeguards made a commitment to work for us as far back as May and then just left us in the lurch like this at the last minute," said Dan Kopetic, Mineola Pool director.

Kopetic also noted that the difficulty in trying to replace 9 lifeguards at the last minute was made worse because there are generally fewer certified lifeguards today than there were just a few years ago. "Many people just don't want to go through the rigors of the certification process required today," he added.

Because of this shortage, the Mineola Community Pool had to implement its modified hours until a minimum of 19 lifeguards were employed. As the number of lifeguards increased, the hours at the pool increased until normal hours resumed.

"The reality is that most lifeguards are young adults with competing work, social, and academic demands. Some choose not to work during the summer at all," stated Mayor Jack M. Martins. "We can't force people to work for us. What we can do is address the problem head on when it presents itself and work towards a solution."

Mayor Martins added that we should all be proud of Dan Kopetic and the rest of our pool staff for keeping the pool open while we dealt with this problem and noted that morning hours were restored for the latter part of the season.

As of Saturday, July 15. the pool has resumed its regular hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. In addition, the pool is open to all Mineola residents and their guests for general swimming on Mondays from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

All residents should note, however, that beginning Saturday, Aug. 19, the pool will go back to its normal, end-of-season modified hours (noon to 8 p.m.) due to the start of school and school related activities for many of the lifeguards and attendants.