FERRIDAY — The controversy surrounding the Ferriday pool is something many Ferriday officials insisted was not an “us versus them” issue, but earlier this week it became just that.

The Consolidated Recreation District No. 1 took the disagreement between the town and the district to the next level by filing a petition for a temporary restraining order to keep the town from operating the pool.

The restraining order was denied for the present, but the town will have to go to district court July 5 to prove it unnecessary.

The affidavit, signed by recreation district board president Robert Lee III, alleges the town is operating the pool without the permission of the recreation district, which owns the land — known as Learned Park — surrounding the pool.

The Ferriday Town Council voted in mid-June to allow Mayor Gene Allen to continue to operate the pool until the recreation district takes it over.

Allen was also authorized to look into putting the pool on the town’s insurance policy. The Concordia Parish Police Jury, the parent governmental agency of the recreation board, currently insures the pool.

The pool was closed in 2005 because of health concerns.

In April, the recreation board and the town made a verbal agreement that the board would operate the pool once it was repaired and passed a safety inspection.

The town made $30,000 worth of repairs to the facility, Allen said.

Ferriday opened the pool June 5 without having it inspected, but health department officials said they do not ordinarily inspect swimming pools.

unless they receive a complaint.

On June 14, the recreation board had the electricity to the facility turned off, but the town had it turned back on later that day.

Then, on June 20, the recreation district brought in an out-of-state pool consultant — Bruce Carney of Carney and Associates of New York City — who concluded the pool should have never been opened.

The suit alleges the recreation district put up “keep out” signs and locked the pool gates two days later, but the town cut the locks and took the signs down.

The pool has been open since June 26.

Allen said Lee does not have the authority to file the court papers.

“The board has not met — there are no minutes from a meeting — to give him the authority to do that,” Allen said. “He is actually violating the law by acting.”

The town would have made repairs if the district had told them what was needed, he said.

“Just tell us what’s wrong with it,” he said.

“We just want to provide recreation for children,” he said. “There is no program in this district for recreation.”