COVINGTON — City officials spent $61,800 to design a replacement for Rosedale Pool — where a 6-year-old boy drowned last August — when it could have been filled in for $19,000, documents in a lawsuit filed by the boy's family show.

        A new municipal pool serving Covington's Latonia neighborhood was never built, after a plan to build it at Latonia Elementary School fell through.

        Rosedale Pool was closed in March 1997 because of flood damage. It was filled in last September about a week after 6-year-old Dylan Roberts drowned. Authorities determined the boy entered the area through a hole in the 8-foot fence surrounding the pool. Dylan's body was recovered from 7 feet of stagnant water early in the morning of Aug. 31.

        Dylan's parents — Michael Cole Sr. and Carla Roberts — are suing the city, claiming officials failed to fix the pool or warn the public of the known danger.

        “Why would you spend $61,000 to design a pool when you didn't have a commitment to build a pool?” asked Eric Deters, the attorney representing Dylan's parents.

        Mr. Deters said he also was troubled that Covington's public works director testified in a Dec. 29 deposition that he repeatedly told his supervisors between March 1997 and the drowning that the city should build a pool elsewhere, rather than repair the flood-damaged pool.

        Covington officials did not return phone calls Friday night.

        In a March 31, 1997, memo to City Manager Greg Jarvis, Mr. Warneford said it would cost about $200,000 to rebuild Rosedale Pool, and he recommended it remain closed.

        FEMA funds “could best be used to build a new pool in a suitable location not located in either the floodway or the floodplain,” Mr. Warneford wrote.

        In his deposition, Mr. Warneford said that he was never directed by the City Commission and the city manager to fill in Rosedale Pool, or to drill holes in it to ensure that rainwater would continually drain.

        In his deposition, Mr. Warneford said city records showed Rosedale Pool was last drained by city employees on June 23, about two months before the drowning.

        “The directive was never made to actually fill (Rosedale Pool) in. ... There was a 90 percent chance that they were going to relocate, but they seemed to be holding out some backup that we could open that pool again,” Mr. Warneford said in his deposition.

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