County to fund improvements for Damascus pool

Lane Hall leaps into the water from the diving board at the Damascus Town Pool. On Tuesday, the Washington County’s Board of Supervisors awarded $13,345 to fund improvements for the pool.

A view of the Damascus Town Pool on a sunny July afternoon.

Lane Hall flips into the water from the diving board at the Damascus Town Pool. On Tuesday, the Washington County’s Board of Supervisors awarded $13,345 to fund improvements for the pool.

ABINGDON, Va. — Washington County’s Board of Supervisors granted more than $13,000 on Tuesday to fund improves for the town pool in Damascus, Virginia.

The swimming pool was built in 1981 and is need of updates, said Kristen Green, one of the managers at the town pool.

“We’ve had a lot of people coming here the last three years,” Green said. “And we just want them to keep coming back.”

The Board of Supervisors awarded $13,345 at Tuesday’s board meeting, using money from the board’s contingency fund.

That money use marked a victory for Vice Chairman Mike Rush, who represents Damascus as part of the county’s Taylor District.

“The town didn’t have the money in the budget. It’s a one-time expense that I had hoped that the board would cover,” Rush said. “We haven’t spent very much out of our contingency budget for my Taylor District. It’s no big crash on the board’s contingency, but it definitely did fund something that is needed. And it’s under operation right now.”

The funds will pay for a new diving board, plus umbrellas at the lifeguard stand, first-aid kits, light fixtures for the restrooms, an Americans with Disabilities Act-regulation chair-lift and new chairs for the area along the swimming pool, said County Administrator Jason Berry.

In related business, the board appointed Ben Casteel and Steve Statzer to the Washington County Park Authority.

Also on Tuesday, the board voted to approve a tax break for the widowed spouses of people who have been killed in the line of duty in either the military or in emergency services.

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