Aquatic Facility Strikes Out?

At last night’s Council Study Session, it was presented with an updated proposal by senior staff member, Steve Zoet, and representatives of the District Twelve School District concerning an Aquatics Facility. The proposal called for a joint venture between the District and the City for the area between the Recreation Center and City Hall.
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The full proposal is available as a Council Public Document on the City’s web site for the date of June 15th. I thank them for being open with the proposal. You can check it out in full detail because I am going to comment on it and the discussion that followed. You can also click on the title of this posting.
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Two options were presented: One for a 25 Yard by 25 Yard pool and the other for a 25 Yard by 50 Meter pool. The latter is far less common than the first. The price tag for the smaller pool, including on-site improvements, was $11,900,000. For the larger pool the price tag, including on-site improvements, was $18,200,000.
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The District offered to fund $5,700,000 for the smaller one, leaving the City with a capital cost of $6,200,000. For the larger one the District offered $10,000,000, leaving the City with a capital cost of $8,200,000. This is only part of the story.
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The School District had a few more requirements: 1) The District would have unrestricted and full access to the facility to accommodate their needs. It was anticipated that this would run for six months each year (November through May) Monday through Friday. Swim meets and other activities would also consume some of the weekends. 2) The City would have to provide the land and pay for all on-going maintenance and operation costs; indefinitely. Ouch!
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To the City Council’s credit, with only Mayor Novak and Councilmember Paiz absent, it was the consensus of the remaining seven that both proposals were not in the best interest of the City. I hope that the proposal does not surface a third time.
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Unfortunately, I have to add a negative to this posting. Following the recreation center election the Council adopted an ordinance stating that any future projects for the expansion of the center would have to go to the voters. Last night Steve Zoet suggested that the City could get around it by having the District construct the aquatic facility instead of the City. I am saddened but not surprised that this staff and its current leader, Interim City Manager, Leslie Cullen, would propose such an idea. Once again, thanks to the Council, their suggestion went nowhere.