Title
Authorizing the Department of Parks and Recreation to apply for and accept a grant from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Pool Safely Grant Program (PSGP) in the amount of $250,000 to support the Saint Paul Aquatics Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Program.
Body
WHEREAS, the grant requires a 40% match in the Project Manager salary, a 60% match in the Project Coordinator salary, and a 70% match in the Enforcement Trainers salaries. Existing budgeted funds will be used for the match; and
WHEREAS, the grant will provide financial support for aquatic employees’ salaries to provide educational and enforcement duties, procurement of life-safety equipment, water-safety educational resources, supplies for educational event attendance; and
WHEREAS, the Saint Paul Aquatics section works towards a future where every resident is trained and equipped with life-saving swimming skills, and a water safety education; and
WHEREAS, the Saint Paul Aquatics section works to prioritize reaching and serving resident who identify as a young person, are BIPOC, low-income (50% AMI), have limited swimming proficiency, limited water safety knowledge and recreate in and around bodies of water; and
WHEREAS, historical and systemic institutional barriers have precluded communities of color and immigrant communities from access to pools and perpetuated a generational gap of residents who do not know how to swim or have a water safety education; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul residents have overwhelming access to bodies of water, a city that was founded on the banks of the Mississippi River, is home to 10 lakes, countless ponds, and private pools; and
WHEREAS, Saint Paul Aquatics manages and operates three water parks and one guarded beach, teaches water safety education courses in the community, teaches and certifies lifeguards; and
WHEREAS, the Saint Paul Aquatics section wants to continue to expand our past and current efforts to improve facility and ...
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