'Little bit of everything'

Space at Hartley’s new swimming pool has gotten a little cramped lately.

With the end in sight, more construction workers were brought in this week to push things closer to the finish line. Hartley Superintendent of Public Works Jaron Benz said crews have been working on bringing everything up to grade, pouring sidewalks, installing fixtures like sunshades and slides, painting the final coat on the pool basin, and erecting the exterior fence.

“It’s a little bit of everything right now,” he said.

The big question mark is still the pool’s variable frequency drives (VFD). The devices control the two pool pumps and are needed to fill the pool, but delivery has been pushed back to June 6.

Benz and other city officials had hoped to find a temporary alternative solution to get the pool filled and test equipment prior to the VFD delivery, but hope is waning.

“That’s the big wild card right now,” said Benz. “There were things being considered, but at this point, I’m not sure what the straight answer is.”

Officials were aiming to have the pool open by June 1. If the VFD delivery delay does indeed push the opening date back, Benz said it would be a week after the devices are installed. City workers need to fill the pool, test equipment and learn operating procedures before local kids can take the inaugural “first dip.”

“It’d just be a matter of hammering out the procedural steps,” Benz explained.

Until then, work on finishing touches will push forward at a fever pitch.

“It’s progress,” Benz said. “Maybe not as much as a person might want, but that’s the nature of it sometimes.”