Harmon Park Pool, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
KEARNEY — The Kearney city council received a presentation from the Two Rivers Public Health Department regarding the transition of environmental oversight for public swimming pools from the state to TRPHD.
Jeremy Eschliman, health director and Katherine Mulligan, planning section manager, with Two Rivers Public Health Department (TRPHD) appeared before the city council during their meeting on Tuesday, April 22.
Eschliman noted that there is an entity in the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) that usually handles inspections of swimming pools, but due to lack of staff, they struggle to conduct inspections regularly.
Eschliman said this poses an issue because the public has an expectation that people and children will not become sick by swimming in public or hotel/motel pool.
The Two Rivers board of health started looking into the issue in 2023 and staff have developed a plan to help address the shortfall by the public health department taking over the inspections in their health district.
Two Rivers Public Health Department oversees Dawson, Buffalo, Gosper, Phelps, Kearney, Harlan and Franklin counties.
Mulligan told the council that they have a team of four staff members working on this and they are seeking an environmental license before they start with any regulatory action.
She said the team is seeking to focus on education and support and not be authoritarian in the enforcement of codes. She noted that privately owned pools will not be subject to health department inspection.
Mulligan said that there are 77 total permits from their seven counties, with 47 coming from Buffalo County.
Two Rivers has established one-time permits, which will differ from the fee structure that was being charged by the state. Eschliman added they wish to be equitable when it comes to fees and are comparable to those in Grand Island, Lincoln and Omaha.
The permitting process is available on the TRPHD website and so far, 44 local permits have been issued by Two Rivers. It was noted that staff completed meetings with pool operators on March 20.
Mulligan said meeting with the operators is beneficial, as the inspectors go smoother when the operators know who will be doing the inspection.
In addition, Two Rivers staff shadowed multiple inspections completed by NDEE and staff has participated in additional training to understand pool engineering in person, presented by NDEE.
Mulligan noted that the locally based inspectors will benefit area pools and staff due to the proximity, consultative visits, understanding local issues and events, helping with advocacy and Two Rivers will be able to coordinate training for CPR in the district.
The city council also received the city’s annual financial report prepared by the Creative Planning Accounting Firm. The city received an unmodified opinion.
An unqualified opinion is considered a clean report. This is the type of report that auditors give most often. It is also the type of report that most companies expect to receive.
The council voted to receive and accept the report.
There were several proclamations and presentations which also occurred during the meeting. They included:
- Presentation of the Youth Week Proclamation to Kearney Elks Lodge No. 984
- Proclamation honoring Robyn Bowman’s 43 years of employment with the City of Kearney
- Proclamation honoring National Public Safety Telecommunications – Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center
- Presentation of National Police Week 2025 proclamation to the Kearney Police Department
