PORT ANGELES — The William Shore Memorial Pool District commissioners at their first meeting Wednesday chose not to select a fifth member to the board until June 24 — a decision criticized during the public comment period by the chairwoman of the group that worked to form the junior taxing district and save the pool.
The three commissioners present said they wanted to allow members of the public to apply for the position and for interviews of the three most promising candidates at their next meeting in about three weeks.
“I’m a little disappointed,” said Krista Winn, chairwoman of Save the Pool PA.
“A lot of decisions are going to be made today without the fifth member.”
The four pool commissioners — City Council members Cherie Kidd and Dan Di Guilio and Clallam County commissioners Mike Chapman and Mike Doherty — were expected to select the fifth member of the pool board at the meeting Wednesday. They were appointed by the two elected bodies they represent on Tuesday. The joint city and county pool district is the first of its kind in the state, said Clallam County Administrator Jim Jones, because all other such metropolitan park districts have been formed by one public entity.
Doherty didn’t attend the meeting because he is out of town on business.
The three commissioners present discussed a couple agreements with the city — which involve transferring the pool to the district and having the city cover pool costs, for which it would be reimbursed, for the next six months — but no documents were prepared for the meeting and no concrete decisions were made beyond the selection of the chairman, Di Guilio, and vice chairman, Chapman.
The commissioners did choose not to hire an interim executive director. City staff will continue to oversee the running of the pool and the all-month-long shutdown for maintenance in July until an executive director is chosen.
“The voters didn’t vote to create a new bureaucracy right out of the get-go,” Di Guilio said. “They voted to keep the pool open. If the city doesn’t help us in this process, I don’t know if we are going to get this thing reopened” after the annual maintenance closure.
The pool district, which has the same boundaries as the Port Angeles School District, came into existence Wednesday morning after the election on the creation of the pool district was certified. The end result of the May 19 election was 7,070 yes votes, or 67.67 percent, and 3,378 no votes, or 32.33 percent. A total of 19,161 ballots were mailed, and voter turnout reached 54.54 percent.
The pool will remain city property until the commissioners approve an agreement with the city that transfers the public facility to the district.
The commissioners are expecting to sign that agreement June 24 after it is approved by the City Council on June 16.
The district will fund the pool through a property tax levy estimated at 15 cents per $1,000 valuation.
The levy, which the commissioners will have to set, will take effect on Jan. 1. By state law, the levy can be set as high as 75 cents per $1,000 valuation.
The district isn’t expected to receive much property tax revenue until April, but it will begin to receive revenue from pool fees as soon as it takes ownership of the facility.
The total cost of operating the pool is about $550,000 a year, but not all of its expenses are covered by pool fees.
The city estimates that the gap in expenses and revenue for the pool will be about $400,000 this year. That gap was $350,000 in 2008.
The commissioners will seek loans, up to $750,000, that would cover paying the cost of the election, estimated at $64,000, establish a $50,000 reserve, cover the costs of a pool director, employees, insurance, utilities and maintenance and reimburse the city for once again covering the costs that pool fees don’t meet.
Save the Pool PA raised $60,500 to keep pool open after the city stopped funding the pool on March 30 due to budget constraints. Those funds will be gone by the end of the week, said city Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski.
Ziomkowski will be responsible for seeking loans for the pool district.
Before adjourning, Kidd thanked the community for supporting the pool.
“It’s an historic opportunity, and we’re finally getting the ball rolling,” she said. “I thank everyone for working so hard . . . you just knocked our socks off.”
Along with selecting a fifth board member, the commissioners are also expecting to appoint up to seven people to the pool district’s citizen advisory committee at their next meeting.
The commissioners will serve until Dec. 31, but they can be reappointed and there are no term limits. Each term will last for one year beginning in 2010.
The commissioners will accept applications for the fifth board position and the advisory committee through the city manager’s office at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St. Applicants must live within the boundaries of the school district.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
