Prospect of reduced lifeguard hours has parents, lifeguards concerned about safety

Watching her four young daughters frolic in the Intracoastal Waterway at Phil Foster Park, Wendy Pejouhy has no doubt what will happen if lifeguard hours are reduced.

"People will drown. Lots of parents like me come here. Young kids like mine can't handle the big waves in the ocean," said the lifelong West Palm Beach resident.

Lifeguards are now stationed at this Riviera Beach park just north of Peanut Island 365 days a year.

That could change in the fall. Palm Beach County officials are considering cutting about $991,000 from the lifeguard division's $10.7 million budget. The plan calls for stationing lifeguards at Phil Foster for weekends only during the school year. Lifeguards would stay seven days a week during the summer.

Fewer lifeguards at Phil Foster would let the county put lifeguards at two north county beaches, Ocean Cay Park and the new snorkeling area in DuBois Park, both in Jupiter, said Dave Lill, director of the county's parks and recreation aquatic division.

Phil Foster Beach is tucked under the shadow of Blue Heron Boulevard bridge. Traffic rumbles overhead. The usual crowd is from Riviera Beach and nearby neighborhoods.

Ocean Cay and DuBois have wide beaches, volleyball courts, shady gazebos and the nearby 990-foot-long Juno Beach Pier. They draw surfers, parasailors, boaters, fishermen and swimmers from throughout South Florida.

All lifeguards were withdrawn from Ocean Cay in 2008 due to budget cuts. The snorkeling area in DuBois, on the south side of the Jupiter Inlet, is expected to open around Labor Day.

This year's proposed 10 percent budget cut for lifeguards has officials scrambling to figure out how to station its 54 full-time lifeguards - five less than last year - to protect swimmers in county parks between South Inlet Park in Boca Raton and Coral Cove Park in Tequesta.

"These parks have more traffic than Phil Foster. We use our resources to protect the greatest amount of people," Lill said.

Reducing lifeguard coverage at Phil Foster "is a very bad idea," said Palm Beach County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor, who represents the area. The plan requires commission approval.

A county budget workshop is scheduled July 11, but no date has been set for a final vote on the budget.

"Whoever came up with this idea has not taken a good look at the whole beach protection issue," Taylor said.

Phil Foster Park is one of three inland beaches monitored by county lifeguards. The other two are DuBois Park in Jupiter and Peanut Island at the Palm Beach Inlet. The hours being proposed for Phil Foster are the same as those now at the other two inland parks.

"We are not being unfair to Phil Foster Park," Lill said.

Other proposed changes include:

•Lifeguards would no longer work four 10-hour days. Their shift would be changed to five eight-hour days.
•The hours lifeguards are on duty is 9 a.m.-5:20 p.m. That would change to 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m. The lifeguards use hours not in the tower for physical training, equipment checks and practicing life-saving skills.
Most lifeguards are not happy about the proposed changes.

Many rescues happen after the proposed new hours, said Lifeguard Al MacQueen, who is occasionally stationed at Phil Foster Park. Beach attendance is up as more people use the free entertainment during the current tough economic times. Now is not the time to reduce lifeguard hours, he said.

"See how smooth the waves are?" said MacQueen, pointing south toward Peanut Island. "That's why kids and older folks come here. They are the ones most likely to drown."

Lifeguards do far more than rescue swimmers, said lifeguard Larry Russell. Since Palm Beach County Sheriff deputies stopped patrolling county parks, lifeguards are often called on to do everything from assist homeless people to break up a fight.

"The public depends on us for much more than swimming protection," said Russell.

Charging for parking and admission to county beaches and earmarking the money to county lifeguards and beach improvements should be considered, Russell said. Lake Worth recently boosted beach parking fees by 50 cents per hour at its beach.

"Beaches are so important to our tourist economy," Russell said. "It makes no sense take lifeguards away and let the people fend for themselves."