Residents of Howard County receive a large number of services from county government. All citizens of Howard County receive these services, be they young, old, rich, poor or otherwise. We are budgeted to burn through over $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2008 to pay for schools, libraries, parks, community centers, police, fire and emergency medical services, roads and a variety of other goods and services. The county government even plans to provide us recycling containers.

My jaw drops when I read that there are some among us who insist that a 50-meter indoor swimming pool that costs $20 million must be constructed to meet the needs of the "under served" in Howard County ("County prodded to ponder building Olympic-size pool," news, July 17) .

We already have many swimming pools in Howard County, at least one of which is taxpayer-funded. An Olympic-size swimming pool will provide nothing more than a narrow range of specialized uses over and above the benefits we receive from our existing pools. Those specialized uses are related to competitive swimming.

Given that most residents of Howard County are not competitive swimmers, I believe that an Olympic-size pool is something that offers few county residents anything new. Those few who have a need for an Olympic-size pool could utilize the Olympic-size pools in nearby Baltimore and Montgomery counties. Therefore, I hope that our elected officials show some fiscal responsibility and reject the call to construct such an expensive item that benefits so few.

Steve Harbin

Woodbine

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