Prosser council to discuss renovating pool

PROSSER -- Plans to renovate the municipal pool may cost as much as $2.1 million, roughly twice as much as city leaders originally anticipated.

The City Council will discuss the unpleasant details at its regular meeting Tuesday.

The 50-year-old pool has leaky pipes, cracks in its deck and a bathhouse that falls short of disability standards.

Preliminary renovation designs called for resurfacing the existing tank and a bulkhead to divide it into a competition pool and a zero-depth play pool with water toys, as well as bathhouse upgrades to meet federal disability access standards. Work was supposed to start this spring.

But when city leaders took architectural bids for more detailed plans, they learned the early drawings fell short. Four of the five bids called for completely rebuilding the tank and expanding the bathhouse.

That prompted city officials to take a second look at the project, said Cathleen Koch, the city finance director.

"We got 50 years out of the first pool; we want another 50 years," she said.

The city so far has banked about $1.1 million, a combination of city funds, state grant money and private donations.

City staff is suggesting the council consider using that to start the project in the fall while issuing a bond for the rest.

The council meets at
7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

* Also in Prosser, fundraising continues for a new Boys and Girls Club, to be located in Miller Park next door to the pool.

Leaders of the effort, including City Administrator Charlie Bush, have come up with nearly $30,000, most of that in three-year commitments, Bush said. They figure they need between $40,000 and $100,000 per year.