I was among some 50 persons who attended the Alva City Council meeting last evening (July 15), concerning the proposed municipal swimming pool. It was almost a three-hour meeting, with pros and cons for a city pool discussed. After the meeting, I had some thoughts that I wish to express to the citizens of Alva.

I grew up on a ranch in the Panhandle of Texas. I learned to swim in a horse tank as our town had no public pool. From that time on, I was hooked! During my public school years, we had to carpool 40 miles to the nearest public pool. It was not until my college years that I actually had...