Othello city pool misunderstood

OTHELLO — The Othello city pool is full of water and nearly ready to open to the public but there is some confusion amongst the council over the design of the project.

"I was under the assumption our slide would have a pool under it," Councilmember Eleanor Brodahl said.

The slide at the pool does not drop patrons into a separate pool, it brings them to a stop near the end of the slide with a series of deceleration water jets.

"We discarded that (idea) a long time ago," Pool Committee member Alan Hanks said.

The additional pool for the slide would require a separate pump system and it was not feasible for the design and would cost too much, he said. The idea was discarded while the project was in the negotiation phase of finding a contractor.

Brodahl said the Othello Outlook printed a design of the pool in their June 8 edition featuring what appeared to be a separate pool for the slide. The graphic was obtained from the city. She said the presentation could have been confusing to readers.

Hanks said there were several different artist renditions of the project.

Over the past few months she said she questioned whether or not there would be enough lifeguards at the pool, specifically for the slide area because she thought there was an additional pool. She said she did not understand why no one corrected her concerns since there was no pool at the end of the slide.

"The community thought that slide was going to be the draw," she said.

Othello citizens voted for the approval of a $2.6 million bond to pay for the project.

It was the third bond issue sent to voters. The first two failed.

The third informational pamphlet sent to voters features a photo of the Naches community pool depicting a slide dropping off into a main pool area.

She said it appears that voters may have perceived the Othello pool to be the same.

"It was never the plan," Hanks said. "If we misrepresented that to you, we're sorry."

Councilmember Kathy Carlton questioned why the pool committee does not keep minutes to track the slide discussion since there are three councilmembers on the committee.

Councilmembers Marc Spohr, Everett Cole and Tim Wilson serve on the committee.

She said if changes were made, they should have been brought to the council for approval or denial.

"It never changed, (the slide) was never going into the pool," Hanks said.

Spohr said there were changes, but not to the slide. He said initially the bathrooms were to have tile flooring but lighting was needed instead. A fence was built around the pool rather than the construction of a party room, he added.

"We were tweaking it the whole time, I won't deny it," he said.

Brodahl said she is worried Othello citizens have perceived the pool differently than what it is. She said one citizen has already asked her why the slide does not empty into the pool.