Staffing-related disruptions began in May and continued throughout the summer. By August, residents were publicly questioning the value of season passes, City Council member Christopher Gilpin had joined the discussion, and concerns about staffing expanded into questions about the conduct of former pool manager Lisa Dozier and how the city responded.
Throughout the 2026 season, families using the Missouri Valley Aquatic Center dealt with repeated closures, reduced hours and ongoing uncertainty over whether the pool would be open as scheduled.
The explanation throughout the summer was staffing. The pool did not consistently have enough certified lifeguards available to operate all areas of the facility and, at times, could not open at all. For families who had already purchased season passes, that meant checking for updates, changing plans and sometimes arriving at the pool only to find they could not use what they had paid for.
By August, the closures had become a broader community concern.
City Council member Christopher Gilpin initiated a public discussion after stopping at the pool and speaking directly with lifeguards about the staffing difficulties they were experiencing. Rather than treating the issue as another isolated closure, Gilpin began asking what would need to change before the following summer.
That conversation quickly revealed that the problem was more complicated than simply saying Missouri Valley needed more lifeguards.
Questions emerged about how many guards were actually required to safely operate the full facility, how many had been hired, how difficult it was to fill schedules throughout the summer and whether the city was doing enough to recruit and retain them.
Ideas ranged from establishing one predictable closed day each week rather than relying on unexpected closures to exploring partnerships with nearby communities that might allow certified lifeguards to provide substitute coverage when staffing became tight.
The discussion also exposed concerns about the financial realities facing the teenagers being asked to fill those positions.
Former pool manager Lisa Dozier explained that the pool has six stations and ideally needs approximately seven guards working each day. She said the season began with approximately 17 lifeguards after managers were removed from the applicant count, while a stronger staffing level would be closer to 24 or 25 guards.
Dozier also stated that lifeguards were paid $10 per hour, with a 25-cent increase for each returning year.
Parents added another piece to the discussion, describing costs associated with lifeguard certification, CPR and first aid requirements, swimsuits and other equipment. Those expenses raised questions about whether teenagers were being asked to invest a significant amount of money just to qualify for a seasonal job paying around $10 an hour.
Gilpin acknowledged that some of those costs were information he had not previously been aware of and said he wanted to verify them and determine what could be changed.
At the same time, the people using the pool were becoming increasingly frustrated.
Resident Rochelle Dollen Parks described reaching the point where she was considering asking the City Council for a partial refund on her family season pass because of the number of closures. While sitting in the pool parking lot, she also watched vehicles arrive from outside the area only to encounter the same uncertainty facing local families.
“Imagine driving here for a closed day,” she wrote.
By then, the issue was no longer simply whether the pool could find enough lifeguards for a particular shift.
The community was asking broader questions about staffing levels, wages, training costs, scheduling, management and whether families who paid for a full season received reasonable access to the facility.
Those questions took on an entirely different dimension at the August 4 City Council meeting, when the discussion turned from the difficulty of staffing the pool to allegations involving the adult responsible for managing those teenage lifeguards.
Questions Shift From Staffing to Management
By the August 4 City Council meeting, the questions surrounding the pool had expanded beyond wages, recruitment and the number of available lifeguards.
Missouri Valley Voices had received an anonymous allegation that former pool manager Lisa Dozier encouraged teenage lifeguards to go on strike as part of her own personal dispute with the city over her pay. After reviewing the information provided, MVV raised the allegation directly with City Administrator Turri Colglazier during the public meeting.
Colglazier confirmed the allegation was true and that the city was aware of what had occurred.
That added another dimension to a summer already marked by staffing related closures. The concern was no longer limited to whether Missouri Valley could recruit enough lifeguards. It also raised questions about the conduct of the adult manager responsible for supervising those teenage employees.
Missouri Valley Voices then asked whether Dozier’s actions had contributed to the staffing shortages and repeated closures. City officials said no.
Despite acknowledging both the staffing problems and Dozier’s actions involving the lifeguards, the city did not explain during the meeting how it determined the two were unrelated.
MVV also raised whether families who purchased season passes should receive reimbursement if management actions contributed to days they were unable to use the pool.
That left another important question: What action did the city take after learning what had happened?
Pool Manager Resigned After Encouraging Teen Lifeguards to Strike Amid Ongoing Pool Closures, Rehire Not Ruled Out
The city knew that Dozier had encouraged teenage lifeguards not to report to work as part of her own dispute with the city, yet the situation was not publicly addressed until Missouri Valley Voices raised it at the August 4 meeting.
When MVV asked whether Dozier could return to city employment after those actions, Mayor Roger Marshall, Dozier’s father, initially responded, “She resigned. I don’t know if she’d want to come back or not.” Rather than addressing whether the conduct should disqualify her from future employment or what was in the best interest of the pool and the community, the response focused first on whether Dozier herself would want to return. When MVV clarified that the question was whether the city would allow her back after what had occurred, officials still did not rule out rehiring her, saying the matter could be discussed if she applied again the following year.
Families Still Paid the Price
While the city maintained that Dozier’s actions did not contribute to the staffing related closures, families were still left with the same result: a season pass they could not consistently use.
Resident Kris Baxter told the council her family had encountered roughly 10 to 12 closures during the season. She described repeatedly making plans to take her children swimming only to find the pool closed.
Baxter said she believed families should receive at least a partial refund because of the number of days the pool was unavailable.
Missouri Valley Voices raised the same concern. If families paid for a full season but repeatedly could not use the facility, the question remains whether some portion of those season pass fees should be returned.
The city did not announce any refund, rebate or credit for season pass holders during the meeting.
What Changes Before Next Summer?
The public discussion made clear that residents do not want to lose the Missouri Valley Aquatic Center. They want it to work.
Ideas raised throughout August included increasing lifeguard pay, covering more of the cost of required training and equipment, recruiting additional guards before the season begins, creating a predictable weekly closure rather than unexpected shutdowns, and exploring whether nearby communities could help provide certified substitute guards when staffing becomes tight. City officials also acknowledged the staffing problems and said they would look at different incentives for next year.
But staffing is only part of what remains unresolved.
Before families are asked to purchase another season pass, the city still has to address how the pool will be staffed and managed, what expectations will apply to the adults supervising teenage employees, how misconduct involving those employees will be handled, and whether families affected by the 2026 closures will receive any refund or credit.
The question now is whether the concerns that surfaced this summer will result in meaningful changes before the pool opens again.
A Thank You to Missouri Valley’s Lifeguards
Missouri Valley Voices also wants to recognize the young people who showed up and worked throughout the summer.
These lifeguards give up a significant part of their summer, take on real responsibility and work hard to make the Missouri Valley Aquatic Center possible for local families.
Their dedication should not get lost in the discussion about staffing, management or city decisions.
To the youth who worked at the pool this summer: your hard work, dedication and service to this community are deeply appreciated. Without you, the pool would not be possible at all. Thank you!
What’s Next?
Missouri Valley Voices has submitted an open records request focused specifically on the attempted lifeguard strike and the city’s response. The request seeks communications involving former pool manager Lisa Dozier and city lifeguards regarding the effort not to report to work, records showing when city officials first became aware of the situation, and documentation of what actions were considered or taken after they learned about it.
The request also seeks any records connecting the incident to Dozier’s resignation. MVV will review those records when they are received and report what they show about what the city knew, when it knew it, and how it responded.
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