Pool upgrades debated: lazy river plan vs. rentable pavilion and cost‑recovery concerns

The committee reviewed options for the Skyline aquatics area, including two priority amenities (an outdoor fitness court or a pickleball court) with cost estimates of roughly $35,000–$50,000 apiece, and an alternate recommendation to replace a proposed lazy river with a rentable covered pavilion to broaden appeal and improve cost recovery.

One committee member referenced the aquatics master plan and the council’s recent deliberations on raising fees, cautioning that earlier proposals to increase aquatic center fees met resistance at multiple council meetings: “We recently had several Council meetings to discuss increasing the aquatic center fees, and at least the majority of Council was not fully in favor of that,” the member said. Planners noted the city’s current cost‑recovery target (~50%) is lower than many peer cities (60–70%), and that a pavilion could aid cost recovery but that staff had not yet run full cost models.

Committee discussion also touched on locating new amenities near dense housing and potential neighborhood impacts; planners advised weighing national/local trends and survey responses when prioritizing features. The committee asked staff to include comparative cost estimates and potential revenue impacts in the final plan.