COVINGTON — A lawyer who is suing the city over a drowning in a closed municipal pool said Friday he is upset that city officials tried to shift federal money for repairing the pool to another project.

        Attorney Eric Deters is suing on behalf of the family of Dylan Roberts, a Latonia first-grader who drowned in August 2000 in seven feet of dirty water that had collected in the Rosedale Park swimming pool. The municipal pool has been closed since March 1997 because of flood damage.

        On Friday, Mr. Deters released correspondence between city and FEMA officials, as well as a Federal Emergency Management Agency audit of federallyfunded projects the city had undertaken after the flood.

        The documents show that FEMA decided in May not to release the $62,370 it had awarded Covington to repair Rosedale Pool after the city failed to begin the restoration within a two-year limit set by FEMA.

        In a March 14, 2001, letter to the Kentucky Emergency Management office, Covington City Manager Greg Jarvis sought FEMA's OK to use the money awarded for the restoration of Rosedale Pool to light a ball field at a new sports complex the city was developing at 43rd Street and Decoursey Avenue. In a follow-up letter two months later, FEMA officials denied that request.

        “What upsets me the most is that (the city) lost the money to fix Rosedale Pool, and even if they had gotten the money, they weren't going to spend it on Rosedale Park,” Mr. Deters said. “It bothers me that they tried to shift the $62,370 for fixing Rosedale Pool to lighting a ball field.”

        Covington City Solicitor Jay Fossett said that city officials decided against repairing Rosedale Pool in 1997 because it was in a flood plain, and they were considering building a contemporary water park elsewhere.

        This summer, Covington officials plan to open a new water park at 43rd Street and Decoursey Avenue in Latonia, he said.

        Mr. Fossett said Covington officials sought an extension on the FEMA money for repair of Rosedale Pool “as a fallback position,” in case they weren't able to build a water park.

        “Their intent was to close (Rosedale Pool), and build a new water park facility,” Mr. Fossett said. “But if they couldn't find a spot for the water facility, they were keeping all their options open, including refurbishing (Rosedale) Pool and reopening it.”

        On another issue, Mr. Deters questioned why the city claimed $95,969 in labor costs for FEMA projects but only had payroll records to support $81,764 of thate.

        Mr. Fossett attributed the discrepancy to differences in the way fringe benefits were calculated and weekly salaries were converted to hourly salaries.

        “There were some errors that were not intentional,” said Mr. Fossett, who added Covington had 20 sites recognized by FEMA as disaster areas. “Believe me, when you have this many projects, mistakes can happen.”

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