Pool vote may be on spring ballot

A downsized version of a new swimming pool for Washington may be offered to voters through a 1 percent sales tax. The Washington City Council discussed the recent failed sales tax vote and the future of the pool project at their Sept. 2 meeting.
The Aug. 5 vote on a 1.2 percent sales tax to fund a new pool failed by 12 votes and council members said the most common concern they heard about the proposed pool was that it was too fancy.
City administrator Kurt Hassler said the pool committee met to discuss what they heard about the project and the consensus was the majority of the public wanted a pool, but that the $1.3 million proposal was too much. The committee decided to scale back the plan to go with a $1 million pool by taking out the water slide and the wet deck and a few other minor things to save costs. They may also downsize the dimensions of the pool slightly. Hassler said the changes would bring the price down.
Financial advisor Rick Enz had told him the retail sales tax intake was higher than expected for the last 12 months, so if a vote was approved with the changes, the city would be capable of making the payments, plus the extra could be used for any other infrastructure improvements or to pay down the debt faster.
The council debated whether to put a question on the November ballot or on the spring election ballot. Hassler said if the vote passed on the November ballot, no money would be collected until May or June and construction would begin in September, 2009. However, that timeline might cause trouble trying to make the first payment and to cover origination fees. There would also not be enough time for a bid process.
The second option, going with a spring vote, would allow for a bid process and construction would start in September, 2010. Hassler said constructions costs would go up, but they’d also have more cash to pay for it. Nobody could guess if the existing pool would last two more seasons.
The council agreed that having a price and design before the vote was put on the ballot would be in their best interest, so the action on a new sales tax question was tabled and Hassler and staff were directed to continue working on the project with the intent of putting it on the spring ballot.
Hassler said he could start the selection process for a contractor and a concept drawing could be ready to go by the December or January meeting.