PAXTON — State Rep. Jason Barickman, R-Champaign, has proposed legislation that would enable the non-compliant Paxton Park District swimming pool — and others in a similar situations throughout the state — to open this summer "as is" without facing penalties for failing to meet a recently enforced federal law.

Announcing House Bill 3980 at the Paxton Park District Civic Center last week, Barickman said he understood the reasoning behind the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, which was passed by Congress in December 2007 in an effort to make pool drains and suction outlets safer.

But he said the act has had "unintended consequences," after state officials didn't start enforcing the federal law until last October. That has left some pools facing costly fixes with less than a year to raise the money, which Barickman said can be hard to do in small communities.

So he's proposed to delay penalties for a year, allowing the pools to stay open this summer and giving organizations more time to raise funds to bring their pools into compliance.

For park district officials, the hope is still that Barickman's proposed bill won't be needed for their Paxton pool. A local group of volunteers, called the Save Our Pool committee, has already raised more than $65,000 toward the renovation of the 47-year-old pool, which wasn't open last summer because of insurance concerns by the park district's risk management agency.

If all goes as hopes, the park district will approve a design plan at its Feb. 14 board meeting that would bring its pool into compliance. But concerns over the often lengthy process of receiving approval and a permit from the Illinois Department of Public Health still has park district officials on edge and wondering whether the pool will open by Memorial Day weekend.

"It will buy us extra time in case something goes awry in the reconstruction or permit process," said park district recreation director Neal McKenry, emphasizing the plan is still to fix Paxton's pool as soon as possible. "We have a lot of funds, from Save Our Pool's work, that have been generated, so we're not trying to sit back and take advantage of the extra year. But it's nice to have that in our back pocket if something does go wrong. There will be a lot of other communities across the state who haven't rallied behind their community pools as much as Paxton that this will benefit."

Barickman's bill calls for penalties and fines on non-compliant pools not to be imposed until Oct. 1, 2012, so long as those pools had applied to be in compliance with the act prior to last Oct. 1, the date the state began enforcing the federal law.