It appears the second season of the Natchez community swimming pool will commence this weekend despite losing the YMCA management team last week.

Natchez-Adams County Recreation Commission members failed to renew the YMCA’s contract after it expired in March, and the YMCA announced last week it was backing out of the management agreement because it had not been renewed in two months.

Also, apparently, the recreation commission is behind on paying bills by at least a couple of months, and the pool went for a time without being properly maintained.

Fortunately, members of the recreation commission stepped in and took on cleaning and managing the pool themselves after learning of the pool’s neglect.

Residents and taxpayers of Natchez and Adams County, however, deserve better and should expect better in management of the $1 million pool that opened only last year.

With such an investment in our community swimming pool, proper management and oversight of the pool should be a top priority for elected county and municipal leaders.

The recreation commission has an interim manager in place to get the pool open this weekend, but we implore city and county elected officials to act quickly to put a better plan in place to ensure our pool is properly managed and maintained going forward.

Natchez and Adams County taxpayers deserve better stewardship over the investment in our community swimming pool and the recreational benefits it can bring to the community.