Council hears two‑year‑old pool repairs, roof replacement uncertainty and $60,000 scoreboard proposal

Town staff told the council the municipal pool needs multiple near‑term capital repairs: filter laterals (past 22 years) and a main heat exchanger (also ~22 years old) are showing wear and sand intrusion in the pool, and pool deck tables (~18 years old) are failing; staff estimated combined costs of about $115,000 for those three items (roughly $40,000 for laterals, $30,000 for the heat exchanger and $45,000 for tables). Officials said those repairs should be done sooner rather than later to avoid a much larger replacement bill if the filter or heat exchanger fails. Council members and staff also discussed a larger roof replacement and boiler project at the community pool. Staff said an earlier $120,000 figure may be insufficient; the public building commission is refining design and cost estimates and staff indicated they may seek to increase the appropriation (discussed figures included raising a $1.20 million line to as much as $1.50 million) before formal appropriation, but that a final hard number was not available July 23. Staff said some design work by an engineering firm was under way and the final recommendation was pending the PBC’s review. Separately, the pool scoreboard and touchpad timing system is roughly 10 years old and vendor support for some components has ceased; staff said losing touchpads would prevent running swim meets and that projected replacement cost was about $60,000 (approximately $40,000 for the scoreboard and the rest for touchpads and ancillary parts). The YMCA and a parents association offered to contribute and proposed various cost‑sharing arrangements; staff noted the town previously purchased the scoreboard to retain control and avoid reliability issues when parts failed. The parents association indicated it could cover a share if other partners participate. Funding sources and mechanisms were discussed: smaller pool repairs were described as CNR (cash‑funded) projects while larger roof work would more likely be a bonded project; staff said they would supply updated cost figures for the council’s August decision. No final appropriations were approved July 23.