PORTALES, N.M. — In May, the City of Portales announced it wouldn’t be opening the pool this summer because of maintenance issues.

KOB 4 spoke to residents in the area who say they aren’t too happy they’ll have to drive 30 to 45 minutes if they want to go for a swim.

“We were hoping it was just going to be temporary, but, from what we’re hearing now, it’s going to be permanent for a while, so it’s a little sad, that we have to now travel to Clovis, Muleshoe, other places like that to have fun with the kids,” a resident said.

One reason the pool in Portales is a hit is the options they have for kids.

“It’s more like a little beach area and then they have it separate from the big pool. So that was convenient because we didn’t have to worry about them running across”

During a city council meeting last week, TJ Cathey, the interim city manager for Portales, tried to get an agreement with ENMU approved, so that people could use the campus pool until the beginning of August.

The agreement included the city, training and hiring a manager, and up to 15 lifeguards. But city councilors brought up that not having enough lifeguards was a problem they had in the past.

The interim city manager argued they already have several applications for both positions.

Ultimately, the city council decided to wait until the next city council meeting to come to a decision. But they do agree the pool should stay a top priority.