Hartley swimming pool staying put

If local voters approve its financing, Hartley's new swimming pool will have a familiar home whenever it opens to local swimmers.

The city council on Monday voted to keep the pool inside Neebel Park where it currently resides. However, Hartley residents will first need to approve a bond issue to finance its construction before any work can begin.

The council and members of the pool taskforce committee briefly discussed moving the pool's location last month, but the change was deemed too costly. It would also delay construction even further.

"Of the pool task committee members I've talked to, probably 75 to 80 percent say let's just move forward, keep the location and get started," said Council Member Mary Westphalen. "If we had $5 million to do it, that'd be one thing. But we also have infrastructure, streets and other things. Our budget is our budget...it's just not financially feasible for the city in my opinion to move it."

City officials have been discussing a new pool for five years. The current swimming pool was built in 1958 and the last major updates were completed in 1996. Several issues have worsened in recent years, and inspectors have determined the facility is nearing the end of its functioning life.

The square footage of the new pool would be comparable to the current one and will cost approximately $3 million. The pool taskforce committee originally gave design company Water's Edge a price point of $1.75 million to develop blueprints, but that amount would get Hartley a new pool that's 40 percent smaller than the current one with very few additional amenities.

The city will have to bond to pay for a portion of the project. Hartley's current debt limit is $1.7 million, and it cannot borrow more than that for the new pool. Additional funding will come from fundraising contributions, city monies and potential grants.

The council voted to move forward with a bond referendum on March 2, 2021. City officials were originally hoping to hold it in November, but looming deadlines made that unfeasible. More information regarding the cost and other financial details will be determined in the near future.

Last month, pool taskforce committee member Rachel Wilson approached the council about moving the pool to the site of the existing elementary building. It's slated to close at the end of the 2020-21 school year, and she noted several Hartley residents were in favor of having the pool so its location would be more centralized.

However, it would cost an extra $400,000-$500,000 to demolish the building. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn school administrators gave city officials no guarantee the district would assist with demolition costs if the city wanted the property or sell it at a reduced rate. According to discussion, H-M-S officials also noted they will need to handle the property with the interest of all three communities in mind.

Pool taskforce committee member Jackie Stoltz was pleased with the council's decision to keep the pool at Neebel Park. She believed it was the only financially feasible option the city had, and she was eager to start fundraising efforts.

"Of all the people I've talked to, only one is in favor of moving it," she said. "I think you as a council have been elected to do what's best for the city financially and spend the monies wisely. Yeah, I would like a Cadillac of a pool, but financially we've pared it down and we've tried to do the best we can for the money we have."

Prior to the bond vote, community meetings will be held to inform voters about the proposal. The pool taskforce committee is also hoping to hold a fundraising kickoff event in the near future.

"I think it's up to the people on the committee to have meetings, talk to the people and show them why this decision was made," Stoltz said.

The decision to keep the pool at Neebel Park was already made by the council two years ago, but members felt it was in the city's best interest to revisit the issue. Nonetheless, the pool's proximity to the park's campground, shelter house and playground won out. Building it in the footprint of the current pool will also keep expenses low and reduces certain risks associated with construction. Since the current pool has held up for more than six decades, engineers have noted during previous discussions that the ground at Neebel Park is good.

According to City Administrator Erica Haack, Water's Edge said it would be feasible to move the pool slightly westward inside the park without adding too much to the price tag. Shifting it that direction would move the pool's entrance away from Central Avenue and the CFE elevator, in turn reducing the risk for an accident.

Haack said the cost of doing so would only add around $50,000 to the construction estimate.