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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/07/2000 CDC MINUTES THE COLONY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION WORK SESSION CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM MARCH 7, 2000 Present: Susan King - President Vicki Briggs - Treasurer Sue Walden - Member John Sanders - Member Bunker Hill - Member Absent: Richard Boyer - Member Staff: Pam Nelson, Kathy Neal Guests: Elise Knox - Aquatic Park Manager Sam Fitzgerald - Lake Parks Manager 1. DISCUSSION OF AQUATIC FACILITY ALTERNATIVES. The work session was called to order by President King at 5:15 p.m. Ms. Nelson informed the board that the purpose of this meeting was to get more information about aquatics from Elise. She wants Elise to discuss the Hunsaker Audit, which Dwayne Brinkley referred to several times at the last meeting. Elise found the figures on the audit to be very inflated. The board was presented with a $1.5 million facility at the previous meeting but was not given enough information regarding that proposal. She wants the board to be better informed for the public hearing. Elise informed the board that there is approximately 60,000 people who use the pool per year and half of those people use the pool during the summer. The general public wants entertainment features. The competitive people, or swim team people want training area a competitive venue that can bring in outside teams and money. Then there is the obligation to public safety, because we live on the lake, people want their kids to know how to swim. This gives you 3 different types of water - play water which runs very shallow, training water for swim classes that runs 3 %2 - 4 % ft., and competitive water that runs 5 %z - 6 ft. She has heard there will be a lot of swim team people at the public hearing and they will have someone there from the school district to say the district wants to contribute money, but she has not heard what that amount is. If the school district is willing to contribute money, it may effect what you want to purchase. She believes that to build a facility the district would be interested in using would be about $4 - $5 million. President King stated she was at a workshop where the school district said they would contribute $500,000. Elise said that would not be enough. She said you put all the money possible into the water and leave plans for design and other items as you grow. If we combine our money with the school district money, we may have a more multi-purpose facility. She has been telling people the city can't build a facility on their own. The newspaper article has not helped. Elise said the board has been presented with a stand-alone facility at the previous meeting and she strongly urges against doing a stand-alone facility. Member Hill stated everyone has said they want aquatics by the Rec. Center. There are advantages to having an attached facility to a new community center - you can share the parking lot, janitorial services, supervisory services and there is a better safety ratio. President King said both the Park Board and 4B Board want the facility connected. The board was given a copy of the Hunsaker Audit done on the Aquatic Park. Elise said she has put out a request to get bids to have renovations done on the outdoor lagoon. She said the Hunsaker Audit was very thorough; they looked at every crack and crevice and they also went through our state codes, which are brand new and did a relationship between what we have. Elise is currently getting a bid to have the outdoor lagoon pool interior stripped down, harnmered out, hand ground and prepared for a fiberglass finish raising 3 of the skimmers. The pool has shifted over the years and as the shift happened, it tore away the tile around the upper edge. The movement happened within the first few months after the pool was built. Because the pool has shifted, it has squished the niches that hold the underwater lights, so some of those will have to be replaced. She has gotten estimates, not bids, of $40,000 from people she has dealt with and trusts. Elise said a lot of the items in the Hunsaker Audit she believes came from his personal preferences and are items that we do not need. Many of the items on the audit are things that we already plan on buying and are getting them at a lower cost. There are many items on the audit that we do not need. The items Elise has identified on the audit that she needs costs $60,600, the city has budgeted $40,000. She is not asking for anything now, everything is coming out of her operational budget. Member Briggs said she is concerned about putting everything on HWY 121. I t would be beneficial to have a major attraction in the middle of town for the residents. If we can do some of the suggestions now, it would enhance the current facility. Ms. Nelson informed the board there is $250,000 on the CIP to put water features in at the aquatic park. Elise said she would like to have renovations to the outdoor lagoon completed by Spring. President King confirmed that the consensus of the board is that everyone would like to help the existing pool facility in some way as opposed to spending any money on the community complex for water features at this time. She also confirmed the consensus of the board that the money we're going out for in bonding will be kept separate and we will see what amount of money we have on hand now to help Elise and keep the 1.5 for later. President King urged Elise to work with the Park Board because they will be making a formal presentation to 4B as to what they want to see in the first, second and third phases. She felt all the board members were comfortable with everything Elise discussed tonight. Elise said the school district wants a gutter system installed in the existing facility. She asked the board if they would be open to the school district contributing money for renovations to the existing facility. Ms. Nelson said the money would be better spent in a new facility. She said we want the school district to do planning that would allow them to provide more funding than $500,000. They need to be involved in the planning and design if they want to participate financially; they will have to contribute a bigger portion. President King adjourned the meeting at 6:15 p.m. Kathy Neal, ecording Secretary Susan King, President