City council members and staff discussed a deteriorating municipal swimming pool at a council meeting (date not specified), focusing on persistent leaks, exposed electrical wiring in the pump room and whether to maintain the pool in place, move it, or replace it.
The discussion matters because the facility poses potential safety and liability concerns for park users and city employees, and any replacement or major repair would require large capital outlays or voter approval for a bond measure.
Council member (unnamed in transcript) said, “we think we need to leave the water in the pool and just maintain it enough,” describing that plan as short-term maintenance rather than reopening the facility for swimming. Staff member (unnamed in transcript) described exposed electrical work in the pump room, saying there are “extension cords that are hardwired” and that an emergency cutoff had not worked until recently. Council members and staff said contractors previously told the city that tree roots around the pool made permanent repairs infeasible at that location and that the pool structure dates to mid‑20th century construction: “It’s from the fifties. Yeah. It’s like concrete,” one speaker said. Estimates discussed in the meeting included an earlier project that required the city to contribute about $500,000 and an opinion that replacing or properly repairing the pool now could cost “probably, a million,” with another participant saying “2 or 2.5.”
City staff outlined immediate safety fixes already completed or planned: repairing the pool emergency cutoff, rewiring the pump room to remove temporary extension‑cord solutions, and adding signage and updated switches. Council members asked staff to pursue grant opportunities and to bring options for capital funding back to council; one council member noted that a full replacement likely would require a bond measure that would go to voters. Participants discussed an interim approach of keeping water in the pool and monitoring for leakage with temporary pumping to determine whether losses are from leakage or evaporation.
No formal motion or vote on pool replacement or a bond measure occurred in the transcript. The council directed staff to investigate funding options, pursue repairs needed to address immediate safety hazards, and return with cost estimates and funding scenarios. The timeline for any formal decision or bond measure was not specified.
Shorter‑term work to be done this season includes replacing or repairing damaged valves and electrical work and performing leak detection to measure evaporation versus loss through cracks. Council members emphasized the risk that delaying a decision could increase costs.
The council did not authorize any capital expenditure in the recorded discussion; staff will return with more detailed proposals and cost figures for council consideration.