PORT TOWNSEND — The first step in the renovation of Mountain View Commons will take place this month with the completion of a new heating system for the city pool and other facilities.
The municipal pool closed Nov. 14 and is expected to reopen Dec. 14, preceded by an open house Dec. 13 to give the public a look at the new facilities.
The new heating system will provide better control over the temperature as well as more efficient management of pool conditions, pool managers said.
“For the past several years, I’ve had to adjust a valve to get the right temperature, and it’s been nearly impossible to get to 83 degrees,” said assistant pool manager Seth Leighton.
“Now, we’ll be able to set the temperature automatically, which will be a lot easier.”
Since closing the pool, workers removed two old oil-fired boilers from below it and replaced them with new propane-driven models that have traded in the sticky levers for Internet-based computer controls.
In addition to the boilers, a new air treatment unit has been installed outside of the pool that will freshen the air and remove some of the mugginess from the area, Leighton said.
The new heating system benefits more than the pool as it upgrades climate control for all of the city offices and nonprofits that are located at 1925 Blaine St.
The Port Townsend Police Department, the Food Bank, the Red Cross and the YMCA are among the tenants that will benefit from the new system, which will allow setting individual temperature levels in each room, according to project manager Tyler Johnson.
“People have different needs,” Johnson said.
“We want to keep some spaces warm, but police officers in uniform may want to keep their area a little cooler.”
Individual tenants won’t be able to set a room’s temperature. They can contact staff for adjustments.
Johnson said this won’t be a common occurrence since the city will develop a program that determines the best temperature for each room.
There is also a CO2 detector, he said. If many people are in a room, the system will pipe in more fresh air to compensate.
Control of the system is Web based so any authorized city employee can manipulate temperature levels through an Internet connection.
The boilers and the air treatment unit are the only new aspects of the system.
Existing heating equipment has been cleaned and refurbished, Johnson said.
The new heating system is part of a process that will turn the 50-year-old former elementary school into a major municipal activity center.
The Port Townsend City Council earlier this month approved a proposed bond measure for the Feb. 10 special election ballot.
It would raise up to $3.6 million in bond sales to go toward the estimated $4.1 million needed to complete Mountain View renovations.
In addition to a new heating system, the structure needs roof repairs. City pool maintenance and other structural issues.
The amount between the total cost of the project and the amount raised by the bond measure will come from grants that are already committed from the state Department of Ecology for $300,000, the state Department of Commerce for $500,000, a grant of about $180,000 administered by the Jefferson County Public Utility District and other sources to be determined, according to City Manager David Timmons.
If passed, the measure wouldn’t represent a permanent property tax increase.
It would be an increase of no more than 13 cents per $1,000 of valuation for 15 years.
Property owners in East Jefferson County will see other measures on the Feb. 10 ballot: a proposed $34.8 million bond to fund renovations and expansion at Chimacum School and a proposed replacement tax levy to net the Port Townsend School District $14.6 million over a four-year period.
If approved, the Chimacum bond would impose a new tax on property owners by $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value, or $375 for a $250,000 home.
In Port Townsend, the rate for the current levy, which will expire in 2015, is $1.56 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The amount of rate increase is estimated to be about 2 cents per $1,000 a year, according to finance manager Sarah Bonneville, which would represent an annual increase of $5 for a $250,000 home.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
