(Estherville)--The Estherville City Council Monday evening received an update on plans to make repairs to the Estherville Aquatic Center. The pool, which  opened in 2022, did not open this year due to the discovery of nearly a dozen leaks. City Administrator Penny Clayton says the city is in the process of getting bids to repair the leaks.

She says the cause of the leaks remains unknown.

Clayton is optimistic the pool will open this summer.

In other business, the council approved the first reading of an ordinance to permanently make traffic one way on South 17 St. from 1^st Avenue South to 3^rd Avenue South. The council had temporarily made that section of South 17^th St. one-way earlier this Spring due to construction on the Football Stadium Entrance Project. Clayton says the city received a lot of positive feedback to the change.

The council will consider the 2^nd and 3^rd readings of the ordinance during their July meetings. The council also approved an increase in firefighter’s compensation. Effective July 1^st, the hourly wage for firefighters will increase by 50-cents an hour to $16.50. The annual compensation for the fire chief will increase by about 3 percent to $3,924.  Three percent increases were also approved for the Assistant Fire Chief, Captain and Lieutenant.