High costs, tough choices make for rocky road to new facility

OTHELLO — With more questions than answers available, those pushing for a new pool for the city are counting on allies new and old to bring the facility into reality.

Among the new, there is TSE Engineering, the Woodinville firm that, at least for now, will keep working with the city on how to get the best pool possible for the proposed $2.5 million to $2.85 million pool levy the public will likely vote on later this year.

Among the old, well, there's the sun.

"One hundred and ten degrees in July with no pool (this year) is going to be a good motivator" for people to vote for a new pool, said Alan Hanks, chair of the Parks and Recreation District, which not only includes the city but certain residential areas around it.

The sun is also holding the timer for those wanting a new pool. The high temperatures will doubtlessly drive the young and old to the city's canal system, making the building of a new facility not just a recreational priority, but a safety issue as well.

"We have to have a pool," Mayor Jeannie Sanders said, later adding "Time is of the essence."

However, after two failed tries at the ballot box, the road to a new facility is not water-slide smooth.

First, the cost is still high. Anders Raman of TSE Engineering predicted that the construction costs alone would run the city the majority of the levy's money, around $2.6 million dollars. Therefore, the supporters of the pool need to look for places to cut costs without jeopardizing their needs.

For instance, new pool backers have made it a priority to include a lap-swim area to allow the city's swim teams to practice. Committee leaders also have a water slide in their design, to which Raman offered a word of caution.

"It can't be a destination, water park pool slide," he said, which would run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Some other ways Raman suggested that may help reduce costs include using the existing pool hole to build the new facility, as well as making the shape of the pool as right-angled, square and free of curves as possible, making the pipe installation easier.

Still, with all these cuts, the pool figures to be a tough sell among a constituency Sanders described as extremely conservative. The committee would like the levy to stay at or above $2.5 million, to keep interest rates low. However, the levy will probably go on the ballot during the same year a $25 million school bond does.

The key will be to keep people informed in order to not lose momentum. Past tries have suffered from misconceptions among the public.

"We want to keep the district involved," said Sanders.

For now, TSE will send a proposed contract to the city that will determine how much it will cost for the firm to get fully on board with the project. A decision on it is expected by the end of the month. From then on, committee members hope to grab momentum and bring the new pool to a constituency of 12,000 people, between city and county residents, who brace for a long, pool-less summer and several tempting, if unsafe, canals.

"We have to have it," Sanders said. "It's a safety issue."