Leavenworth staffs Osborne community center plan, seeks sales-tax district and parking changes

City staff told the joint Leavenworth City Council and Upper Valley Parks & Rec Service Area (PRSA) board that the Osborne property is being advanced as a proposed indoor aquatic center, community center and expanded library, and outlined near-term steps for funding and construction.

Sally, a city staff member leading the project, said the city “did receive a grant … we got $245,000 to be done as asbestos abatement at the Osborne project” through a brownfield revolving-loan program and that the contractor has discovered additional insulated piping in the utility corridors, producing a small cost increase above the originally estimated grant-funded scope. She said staff will ask the council for a change order to cover that extra abatement work.

Sally described the anticipated governance and finance path: the council would create a city-limits public facilities district, appoint a five‑member public facilities board and ask voters in the district to approve a two‑tenths of a percent sales tax within the district to finance the project. “That is money that we know is necessary,” she said, adding the city expects roughly $700,000 per year from a similar local sales-tax mechanism based on historical data.

The project team also reported operational work at the existing pool to reduce downtime and improve safety. Sally said the city ordered a new pool pump, “I think we spent $25,000,” and has the existing pump being rebuilt as a backup. Staff are switching from a purely saltwater disinfection system to a coordinated chlorine-based system after repeated multi‑day downtimes following salt-system upsets. New disinfectant hardware and variable-frequency-drive programming by contractor AquaFiniti are expected to be installed the following week.

The staff update included a list of planned facility repairs (liner crack touch-ups, lifeguard chair and restroom divider refurbishment, and attention to a spray-feature base identified as a potential hazard) and a plan to repave the front parking lot after the council awards the 2026 parking-lot bid.

On funding and boundary questions, Sally said staff will pursue expanding the PRSA boundary to match the Cascade School District boundary, but noted that requires county cooperation because the properties in question are county‑owned. She reiterated that adding territory to PRSA would be decided by a vote of the people who would be added to the boundary.

Shannon Lemons, parking department supervisor and PRSA secretary, briefed both bodies on a proposed electronic parking-validation system using QR codes tied to license plates to replace dash passes. Lemons said the system would grant a 15‑minute grace period and let staff validate longer stays for pool and library users while reducing dash-pass abuse. “One of the things I’d like to get away from is the dash pass,” she said, describing how the QR workflow would validate parking and feed license-plate data to enforcement checks.

Community partners voiced support: Peterson, president of the Valley Aquatic Boosters, said the boosters are organizing fundraising and community engagement around the proposed year‑round pool and look forward to partnering with the city’s new recreation and tourism manager once hired.

The council did not make a final commitment to the public-facilities district or to a ballot measure at the meeting; staff said they will return with more detailed budget figures, a change‑order request for asbestos abatement and further steps for boundary and financing actions.

Next steps: staff will bring the change‑order request and budget amendment to the council in a future packet, pursue coordination with county officials on PRSA boundary work, and continue outreach tied to the planned hiring of the recreation and tourism manager.