A view of the vacant lifeguard station at Center Lake in 2020 in Warsaw. InkFreeNews photo by Dan Spalding.

By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews

WARSAW – Just the talk of a pay raise for lifeguards in Warsaw sparked an increase in interest in a handful of seasonal jobs offered by the city.

Officials hope that final approval by Warsaw City Council on Monday, April 19, will lead to more job applications.

Council voted unanimously to provide hourly pay hikes for a handful of summer jobs, including lifeguards.

Warsaw is among many communities struggling to fill lifeguard jobs and last year, was forced to allow the public swim to at their own risk at two city beaches for the lack of staffing.

Jennifer Whitaker, the city’s director of human resources, introduced the discussion Monday night, saying it was a matter of just remaining competitive with other employers.

Making things worse, the city realized lifeguards in nearby communities were working for a higher hourly rate, she said after Monday’s meeting.

Whitaker said lifeguard positions have become the hardest to fill among seasonal jobs.

Lifeguards will see their pay rise from $12.25 an hour to $14. The top lifeguard will make $15 an hour.

The change will affect a handful of other positions, including the campground manager ($18 per hour), and recreation leader ($15 per hour).

Whitaker said she hopes the pay hikes make it easier to hire lifeguards.

“Even if we could get six to 10, it would be awesome,” Whitaker said. “We used to have, literally, 17 to 25 lifeguards.”