PORT TOWNSEND — Two studies commissioned by the nonprofit pool group, Make Waves!, show the environmental impact of a new pool near the Haines Place Park and Ride would be minimal.
“The Geotech survey indicates that the site is buildable without much extra expense,” said Karen Nelson, a member of the Make Waves! board.
“As for the habitat surveys, those have been completed and show there will be no significant impact [on nearby Kah Tai Lagoon.]”
Make Waves! is looking to create a full-size swimming facility on acreage between the park and ride and the lagoon.
The site is currently owned by the city and a deal would need to be struck between the two if a pool is to be built on the site.
On Monday, the City Council listened to a presentation from Make Waves! outlining the proposal.
“There are several different ideas and different options available,” Nelson said.
Montana example
“In Whitefish, Mont., the city ended up leasing the facility to the nonprofit group so the land remained with the city.”
In that proposed layout the land would be leased to the nonprofit and a management company would operate the facility built on the site.
“The benefit for the community with that model is that taxes and insurance are not put on the taxpayer,” Nelson said.
The council did not take action Monday night.
City Manager David Timmons said the role of the city would be to keep the current pool open.
“We need to see if Make Waves! can really make waves first,” Timmons said.
“Then council would need to make a decision.”
Any decision is likely a way off.
Members of the nonprofit group are estimating it will take a few years and cost at least $10 million to build the kind of aquatic recreation center that suits Jefferson County’s needs.
Funding for the project is being raised privately and possibly through grants to avoid going to voters to form a recreation district.
Time line
The group’s time line, which can be seen at www.makewavesinpt.org, shows plans to begin construction in 2011 and open the aquatic recreation center by 2013.
As proposed, the pool would be modeled after Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center, a center in Whitefish, Mont., and one in Bend, Ore., according to Capron.
Planned is an eight-lane, 25-meter pool that conforms to international standards, an indoor track for walkers, joggers and baby strollers, a therapy pool, a multipurpose room, a basketball court, an aerobics/yoga room, a Jacuzzi, a sauna, a climbing wall and rooms for cardio and muscle resistance equipment.
The current pool is located at Mountain View Elementary School.
In 2008, costs to operate the pool ran $25,000 over estimates, and donations from the school district, Make Waves! and Puget Sound Energy helped keep the facility open.
Timmons said the city intends to keep the current pool up and running barring any catastrophic failure to the pool’s infrastructure.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
