Town staff outlines Aquatic Center plan, cost ranges and timeline; council presses for clearer cover estimates
Loading...
Summary
Town staff presented updated plans for the proposed Payson Aquatic Center, describing a one-body-of-water pool, a 3,700-square-foot building, options for a retractable cover and revised cost estimates tied to a possible $16 million bond. Council members asked for more precise cost breakdowns and a geotechnical schedule.
Town staff on July 9 presented an update on the proposed Payson Aquatic Center project, including design details, options for a pool enclosure and an updated cost framework as the town moves toward a potential bond measure.
Rod Buchanan, interim PMO manager, told the Common Council that the current design calls for a single, multiuse body of water with six lanes, a deep end of 6 feet 6 inches, and a recreation/lesson area with zero-depth entry plus a three-foot therapeutic/recreation current pool. The building is roughly 3,700 square feet. The plan reduces the construction footprint from an earlier 7 acres to about 3 acres and retains as much existing landscape as feasible, staff said.
Buchanan said staff has been value-engineering the project; eliminating steel in the building structure, using masonry and wood, and other design shifts have reduced costs. Staff also recommended using recycled asphalt millings for about two-thirds of the parking area, with paved asphalt for the primary accessible parking rows and ADA spaces. Bus loading for two to three buses, bleachers, and a service area for food trucks were included in the site plan.
A major topic in the presentation and council discussion was the pool cover, which the town has previously explored as either a permanent “hard-shell” natatorium or a sliding/expandable structure. Buchanan said recent vetting found a sliding-span cover option that would save about $1 million compared with earlier sliding/rigid configurations; staff estimated a cover price in the range of $3.8 million for the option under active study. He recommended procuring the cover as a separate, phased contract after the pool is accepted to reduce contractor markup and inflation exposure.
Buchanan said the town previously presented a worst-case project estimate of $16 million for the pool and related site work (a figure used for bond planning). With the value-engineering completed to date, he said the project appears to be trending lower and staff currently estimates needing about $15 million for the core project, leaving roughly $1 million of the $16 million bond that could be applied to a cover if council chose. Buchanan said a schematic design and higher-confidence cost estimate would be available after a July 22 schematic deadline and that the town expects a preliminary geotechnical report in about 30 days.
Council members repeatedly asked for more precise line-item costs for site development (earthwork, utilities, capacity fees), and Buchanan replied that staff will provide a full breakdown once construction documents are further developed. He said earlier borings reached about 14 feet without encountering significant resistance at the proposed location, but additional borings will be required to confirm subsurface conditions across the smaller, 3-acre footprint.
Several council members emphasized the political importance of providing a covered pool option in voter materials, and asked whether early procurement of a cover or outside fundraising could allow a cover to be in place “day one” if a bond passes. Buchanan said firms can provide firm pricing as soon as the town decides on a cover option; he estimated a separate procurement and early ordering strategy could secure a price and reduce inflation risk.
Staff outlined a construction timeline that would allow pool construction (without the cover) to finish on schedule, with cover installation possible in a separate phase soon after acceptance. The town will continue to value engineer and refine cost estimates, develop construction documents and complete cultural and geotechnical studies.
