Charles City Parks & Rec Board recommends approval of swimming pool repair project

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A revised proposal for repairing the Charles City municipal swimming pool brings the projected price tag down to a level where the city could borrow the money to pay for the work without having to ask voters for approval.

The proposal presented Wednesday evening at the Charles City Parks and Recreation Board’s monthly meeting by its design consultant came in under the $910,000 cap that the City Council can borrow on its own authority.

The board members voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council approve the project.

If the council members give the OK, construction could begin Aug. 1 after a shortened 2024 swimming season, according to Tyler Mitchell, director of the Charles City Parks and Recreation Department.

Mayor Dean Andrews, who was at the meeting, said he expected the council to approve the proposal.

“I think they’re all on board,” Andrews said. “I don’t think they’ll have a problem with this.”

An initial “repair only” proposal the board had discussed last month had a price tag of more than $1.1 million.

At this week’s meeting, Andy Pennekamp, a professional engineer with JEO Consulting Group, of Ankeny, took the board through changes that could reduce that price to $808,000, by eliminating some repairs that were desirable but not critical, and by reducing the amount JEO would charge for design work, bidding and construction phase management.

Part of the reduction also came from reducing a 30% contingency on the repair cost estimates to 20%.

Among the repairs that would no longer be done as part of the project are building a new entrance to the pump pit so that it would be accessible by a staircase rather than a ladder, and not installing a sump pump “dewatering” system to remove groundwater around and under the pool vessel.

Still included in the project would be pool floor and wall expansion joint repair, gutter low point repair, gutter handhold replacement and/or repair, gutter crack repair, surge tank and plunge pool leak-proofing, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance work, Pennekamp said.

Repairs to the mechanical system would include updated piping and/or location for the recirculation pump, filter replacement, chlorine system replacement to go from the current chlorine gas system to liquid or pellet chlorine, an acid system addition for the new chlorination system, and variable frequency drive installation on the pumps so they can be run at different speeds as demand warrants.

The latest projected costs are:

• Pool repair – $180,000.
• Mechanical system repair – $296,000.
• Site work – 60,000.
• 20% contingency – $107,000.

Total construction costs – $643,000

• JEO design work – $70,000 (down from $110,000).
• Bidding – $15,000.
• Construction management – $60,000 (down from $80,000).
• Resident project representation – $20,000 (down from $80,000).

Total JEO costs – $165,000

Total project costs – $808,000

Parks & Rec Board Chair Jeff Otto asked Pennekamp how long the repairs could be expected to last.

The engineer said most of the concrete in the pool was in good condition, with most of the problems in the joints and the mechanical system.

“If we repair those that should last quite a long time,” Pennekamp said. He said the current mechanical system is original with the pool, so the new mechanical system parts could be expected to last as long.

“Is 25 years realistic?” Pennekamp mused. “Probably. Could it go longer than that? Potentially. Those joints might need some maintenance here and there, but the intent is a minimum of 25 years before you had to do something.”

Board members had been looking at repair and renovation proposals that would fix problems with the existing pool, plus add several significant new play features to attract additional users. The prices for those projects were in the $2 million to $4 million range, depending on which features were added.

Such a cost would almost surely require the city to issue bonds backed by property taxes, and that would require a 60% approval by voters in a November election.

Concerned about the challenges of passing a bond referendum, Mayor Andrews and City Administrator Steve Diers had proposed at an earlier Parks & Rec Board meeting that the board consider getting the cost below the $910,000 individual project cap that the state allows for borrowing by a city with a population the size of Charles City.

The board continued Wednesday to discuss options to add additional features to the pool, such as a climbing wall, floatables and shallow depth play structures, through grants or fundraising efforts.

Especially high on some board members’ priorities is creating a splash pad, either near the pool in Lions Field Park, or in some other location in the city.

Mitchell took the board through many examples of splash pads, with price tags ranging from low- to-mid-five figures, to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most of the board members who expressed an opinion said a splash pad did not need to be elaborate.

Board member Chris Eldridge said the emphasis should be on simplicity and durability.

Otto said the board had not really done any fundraising, and it should discuss ways to raise money to pay for some of these projects.

A splash pad would be a good first fundraising choice, Andrews suggested.

The board members also continued discussion of the board’s five-year plan, looking at priorities, timing and funding sources.

Still part of the discussion are whether to repair or replace the clubhouse at Wildwood Golf Course, continued work on the city bicycle and pedestrian trail, lighting at the city ball diamonds, maintenance and renovation along the whitewater course, and adding or replacing playgrounds at various city parks.

Phoebe Pittman, City Council liaison to the Parks & Rec Board and a middle school teacher, suggested a multi-age fitness-type playground, saying such a facility at the middle school gets a lot of use.

“If you provide them with something that doesn’t look like it’s for little kids, they will still play, they really will,” Pittman said.

Closing out the meeting, Mitchell said he will have the summer season’s usage figures for the pool and the golf course for next month’s meeting.

He had mentioned before that Wildwood usage was up significantly this year, and would have been even higher except for the drought which forced the club to limit use at times.