The Pic Saint-Loup intercommunal swimming pool will only have remained closed for 15 days. This public facility is managed by the company Vert Marine, which had decided suddenly and without any consultation to close part of the swimming pools it manages in France on the grounds that the electricity bill was too high.
Thus, the Pic Saint Loup swimming pool located in the town of Saint-Mathieu-de-Trviers closed its doors abruptly last Monday, September 5. The Vert Marine company then explained that to remain open, it would have been necessary to multiply the entrance price by three.
As of last week, the president of the community of commune of Grand Pic St Loup began negotiations with the company, an agreement was reached at the end of the week and the reopening date has just been announced, it will be next Monday, September 19th.
It is important that schoolchildren can learn to swim
For President Alain Barbe “It is important that the swimming pool is open again during this back-to-school period, especially with the swimming cycles which are due to start in schools in the coming days. A hundred classes are welcomed each year“.
It is the community of municipalities that will pay for the electricity at an advantageous rate and re-invoice the company Vert Marine
This rapid opening was possible thanks to the substitution of the energy contracts of Vert Marine by the contract of the Community of communes with Hérault Energie which benefits from more advantageous pricing. The Community of communes will buy the gas and electricity necessary for the proper functioning of the swimming pool which will then be re-invoiced in the same amount to Vert Marine. No additional cost will be borne by the administration.
1/3 of the energy consumed by the swimming pool comes from renewable energies
“Its opening is also possible thanks to sound management equipment by the Community of Commune of Grand Pic Saint Loup” recalls Alain Barbe. “At the time of its creation, the community favored renewable energies. The equipment uses 90% wood energy to heat the water in the pools. The heating of the sanitary water in the showers is provided in part by panels In total, approximately 1/3 of the energy consumed by the swimming pool is supported by renewable energies.”
A new meeting between the community of municipalities and Vert Marine is scheduled for the first half of December in order to discuss the solutions envisaged for 2023.