Design phase to begin
By Bert Lehman
By a unanimous vote, the Clintonville City Council approved pursuing a swimming pond to replace the city’s current outdoor swimming pool.
Alderman Chuck Manske was excused from the meeting.
At the June 11 council meeting, Alderman Steven Kettenhoven, who also chairs the parks and recreation committee, said the committee recommended the council pursue installing a swimming pond as the city’s outdoor aquatic facility.
Clintonville City Council President Mike Hankins asked when money would be budgeted for a pond.
Clintonville Mayor Richard Beggs said the next step would be to have a pond facility designed.
“We got to get the money for the design, and then we’ll know how much it will cost,” Beggs said. “We’re probably talking next year before we have to fork over the money to start with.”
He added the city would need to remove the existing swimming pool.
Alderwoman Julie Stumbris said she was always in favor of rehabbing the existing swimming pool.
“Why wasn’t there any effort, at least that I saw, into getting numbers for a new liner and a roof for the bathhouse?” Stumbris asked.
Beggs said the city does not know how much a new liner for the existing swimming pool would cost because the estimates it received were for sandblasting and refinishing the existing pool.
“Once that’s done you have some number of years, it could be five or 10, you got to do it again and again and again,” Beggs said. “All the problems we have now with maintenance we’d still have. They’d be recurring problems.”
He added the biggest problem with refurbishing the current outdoor swimming pool is the city cannot find a company to replace the roof of the bathhouse that was damaged in a 2015 fire.
“The bottom line is at this point Justin (Mc Auly, Clintonville Parks and Recreation director) has been unable to find a way to refurbish the existing bathhouse if you chose to go that route,” Beggs said.
Hankins said he believes everyone wants an aquatic facility for the children, and to some extent there is one at Clintonville High School.
“But it’s not the same as having an outdoor one,” Hankins said. “I feel this (swimming pond) is more cost effective and has a different type of atmosphere that could be a complement to the one at the high school.”
He added he understands citizens have been asking for action with the outdoor municipal swimming pool, but he is glad the council took its time on the matter because the idea of a swimming pond developed during that time.
“Now I think we can move forward,” Hankins said. “I think it’s the way to go.”
Beggs said Mc Auly told him that if the city refurbishes the current swimming pool, the same maintenance problems will continue to be an issue for the city.
Beggs also said the city’s Parks and Recreation Department has been underfunded for many years.
“The way we handled his funding for the pool is when it breaks we’ll fix it, but we won’t prevent the breaking,” Beggs said. “We don’t do anything in advance. I think it’s grossly underfunded. We’d have to significantly increase the funding to do maintenance on the pool if we refurbish it.
“Lots of these ponds exist. They all say it’s a lot less expensive. Some of them say it can be a money-maker. That would be a nice addition,” Beggs said.
Alderman Brandon Braden said he prefers the swimming pond idea, but he does not want to see large amounts of tax revenue used to construct the pond.
Clintonville City Administrator Sharon Eveland said the city will pursue as much grant funding as possible for the construction of the aquatic facility.
Hankins added that if a problem is found during the pursuit of a pond, the city could still move in a different direction if necessary.
“Until we actually put some dollars to it, it’s merely indicating that, ‘Yep, we’ve decided this is the direction we’re going, providing everything works out the way we kind of think it will,’” Hankins said.
Eveland told the council a swimming pond would not have a bathhouse.
It would have a warming house and showers like those found at a beach.
Designing the facility would probably cost $7,000 to $10,000, Eveland said.
Alderman Jim Supanich said he supports the pond idea, adding that being able to move the skating rink to the swimming pond could open up the current rink’s location for a riverwalk, another idea the city is researching.