Pool committee approves updated RFP draft for conceptual designs despite funding shortfall

The chair of the Town Pools Project Building Committee (speaker 1) told members the vote concerned only approving draft RFP language, not authorizing spending or advertising the solicitation. "We're not gonna be setting this out. We're just approving the draft language so that at the time that we do have the funds, we can just get this out there," the chair said during discussion.

Committee members then voted to approve the updated RFP language for conceptual designs and cost estimates for both pools. The chair announced the motion "passes with 1 opposed," but did not record a full roll‑call tally in the transcript.

The approved draft asks consultants for conceptual designs using the concrete‑liner option described in the 2025 Weston & Sampson report, line‑item cost estimates for pools, wading pools, bathhouses, pump rooms, pool lifts and ADA‑compliant features, and optional splash‑pad designs. The scope also directs consultants to provide cost escalators to account for future construction inflation and line items so town officials can remove or add components at referendum.

Committee members stressed the approval preserves flexibility: it allows the town to compare vendors and cost items without forcing a single approach. "The line item veil shall allow the town to make a la carte decisions about the project scope," the chair read from the draft RFP.

The committee recorded the approval as a formal action; the approval does not obligate funds or authorize the town to issue the RFP until financing is secured.