PORT ANGELES — The William Shore Memorial Pool District not only will manage Port Angeles’ public pool in-house, but also will save money doing so.
The taxing authority’s Board of Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the 2010 budget and strategic plan written by its advisory committee.
The plan includes cuts to life guard and supervisor hours — but no layoffs — and costs the metropolitan park district roughly $3,000 less than a bid from the Clallam County Family YMCA for this year.
The YMCA withdrew its bid last month after pool users and members of the advisory committee protested, saying commissioners had not considered having the park district run the facility itself.
They told the commissioners that voters last spring were under the impression that the park district would manage the pool directly when the electors approved its formation.
The YMCA had proposed running the pool, through a three-year contract with the metropolitan park district, for $363,552 per year.
The contract amount covered operating expenses, administration and transferring management of the pool to the YMCA.
The approved budget lists operating costs at $342,980, but that amount doesn’t include all administration expenses and the one-time transition cost.
Managing the pool in-house will add $5,600 in accounting costs, said park district accountant Charlie McClain.
The park district also will pay $11,500 to cover the costs of transferring management of the pool to itself from the city of Port Angeles, which has managed it on its behalf since it took ownership last summer.
With those costs added together, the park district will spend $360,080 this year for the same services that it would have contracted for with the YMCA.
Mike Chapman, park district commission chairman and county commissioner, praised the advisory committee before the meeting for lowering costs.
“They did a great job,” he said.
“I’m very impressed with the hard work they did.”
At their Feb. 23 meeting, the commissioners agreed to let the advisory committee come up with its own proposal for managing the pool in-house.
The next day, the YMCA board voted to rescind its offer, leaving it up to the advisory committee the sole group responsible for proposing a budget and management plan.
The park district will take over management from the city June 1. The pool will likely be closed for a few weeks that month for annual maintenance.
Pool operations are not expected to be affected while management moves from the city to the park district.
Hours and classes will remain unchanged, even though lifeguards and supervisors will work less.
Tom Bock, advisory committee secretary, said the pool still will comply with safety guidelines that mandate when a lifeguard must be present.
Personnel costs are $10,796 lower than what the park district had anticipated under the approved budget.
The only position that will be up for grabs is pool director.
All employees will keep their jobs, but they will have to fill out applications and undergo background checks for record-keeping purposes, the commissioners decided.
The current pool director, Jayna Lafferty, is expected to act as interim director for the first three months.
Anyone interested, including Lafferty, may apply for the permanent director position.
Total expenses under the approved budget will be $623,776 for this year.
That includes all other costs such as an annual loan payment to Clallam County, placing $30,000 into a fund for facility improvements and replacing broken parts, and expenses for utilities, insurance, maintenance, and legal and clerical work.
None of those costs would have been covered by the YMCA.
The park district intends to contract with the city for maintenance.
Under the approved budget, a new computer system will be installed to allow pool users to pay for passes with their credit cards, and $2,000 will be set aside for marketing.
“The motivation is to get people to the pool,” said Bock, when referring to the marketing account, before the meeting.
The commissioners also agreed to fund a survey that will determine how structurally sound the facility is after operating for 48 years and much longer it can remain open.
No structural problems have been reported to the park district.
The survey was recommended by the advisory committee.
“You’ve got a used car and we need to see if the engine is working OK,” committee member Steve Burke told the commission.
Bock said the advisory committee will recommend that $30,000 be placed into the capital improvement fund each year in order to handle any mechanical failures.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
