PORT TOWNSEND — After state funding for design failed to come through, Jefferson County commissioners paused forming a public facilities district intended to oversee planning, building and maintaining an aquatic center.
A hearing for the formation of the public facilities district (PFD) originally was scheduled for Monday’s board of commissioners meeting, but it was put on hold.
County commissioner Heidi Eisenhour said she bristles at the notion of conflating the canceled PFD hearing with canceling the pool.
“We are fully moving forward with exploring the pool in mid-county,” she said. “The decision to cancel the hearing today came because we got word that we did not receive the local project funding that we had requested.”
Eisenhour said conversations late last week with Jeffco Aquatic Coalition (JAC) and the county prosecuting attorney’s office led to the conclusion that time is needed to come up with another funding plan.
Without the state grant, the PFD would not have been adequately funded to carry out a work plan, commissioner Greg Brotherton said.
Brotherton added he’s committed to continuing the work on the aquatic center.
Chimacum School District Superintendent Scott Mauk and Jefferson County Library District Acting Director Daniel Heaton both expressed their continued interest in the project, Brotherton added.
In her public comment, JAC president Diane McDade requested that the board of county commissioners (BOCC) move forward in forming a PFD once sufficient funds are raised to ensure the execution of a work plan.
“JAC, working in concert with you, will set a fundraising target sufficient to support that work plan and the administrative and operating costs associated with the PFD,” McDade said. “We’ll return to the BOCC when sufficient funds have been raised to ensure the successful implementation.”
In a time of economic uncertainty, a large percentage of private funds is needed for the formation of the PFD, McDade said.
“Which is why we’ve already raised $125,000,” she said.
McDade also requested the BOCC’s support of a citizen-led community stakeholder committee.
“We propose that interested citizens and representatives from the Chimacum School District, the Jefferson County Library, Jefferson Transit and neighborhood leaders from the Tri-Area begin meeting now to discuss preliminary site plans,” McDade said. “While JAC fully supports the formation of PFD as the eventual governmental entity to help realize our goals for a future aquatic center, we also recognize that a great deal of valuable work takes place when citizens and stakeholders work together in a cooperative fashion.”
JAC board member Jane Armstrong said her experience as a volunteer at a Seattle women and children’s center showed her that public pools can be an equalizer.
“One of the things we did was take children out to a neighborhood public pool,” Armstrong said. “Children in that setting had such a life and vibrancy from the difficult environment they were in. They are equal with everyone else. I see the same thing with Mountain View (pool).”
In her response to public comment, commissioner Heather Dudley-Nollette said she appreciated how much focus commenters placed on the community-building value that a public pool can offer.
JAC gathered data on Jefferson County residents’ interest in a new pool in a survey. The survey ran from the beginning of February to the end of March.
“We at JAC are gratified by the results of the countywide survey, which reveals strong support for a new aquatic center located in Port Hadlock,” McDade said.
The survey results were presented by JAC to the BOCC at their April 7 meeting.
The presentation said 2,951 surveys were submitted from full-time and part-time residents, representing 5,898 people from all age groups.
Survey results showed that 55 percent of respondents said construction of a new aquatic facility was very important. Twenty-two percent said it’s not important.
More than 61 percent of respondents said they would support a sales tax of 20 cents per $100 to fund a portion of the project’s construction.
More than 27 percent said they wouldn’t support it. The remaining 11 percent said they need more information.
To view the pool survey results, visit https://www.jeffcoaquaticcoalition.org.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
