There is no agreement on where it would be located, the cost to build it could balloon to $6 million and it lacks a model for potential revenue. Is the idea of a community pool all wet?
Years of lamenting the closure of the previous pool, a high school-based facility was condemned and filled in 2005, lead in 2009 to a concerted effort to replace it.
The city lists a community pool in its development agency’s five-year implementation plan for 2010-2014 and has pledged $1.5 million towards its construction. The Sonoma Valley School District said it would kick in $1.5 million of its own and provide the land free of charge. Community support, as expressed in a public survey mounted by the volunteer group Sonoma Splash, is in place as well.
The remaining economic realities are daunting.
The funding gap for construction could be as high as $3 million, according to Bennett Martin of Strata, the Sonoma architectural firm consulting the project on a pro bono basis. In 2008, the school district floated a construction estimate of about $2.5 million. Based on high school pools Strata recently designed in Marin County, Martin said the figure will be closer to $6 million.
The bare minimum for a 40-meter pool would be at least $2 million, he said, with the price quickly escalating with the addition of pool deck, fencing, lighting, pool building and so on. The condition of the foundation, and gas and electric inputs, are budget line-items as well.
Martin will present costing options at an upcoming meeting with city and district officials. “We’ll give them firm numbers, something they can work with,” he said.
Budget projections for operating a competition-size pool have also been understated, according to Martin. In a project update to the city council, Mayor Steve Barbose put the annual operating expenses at $200,000. That number, based on a similar pool at Drake High School, would only cover energy costs – $150,000, and chlorine – $50,000, and is thus likely to be significantly higher.
Council members are adamant the city does not fund any of the pool’s annual operation or maintenance. “There is no general fund money to contribute,” said Barbose. Councilman Ken Brown agreed. “There shouldn’t be any expectation of annual funding.”
“In my mind, the money that was for this project is gone,” Councilwoman Joanne Sanders said.
The district’s $1.5 million, held in a dedicated fund for construction, can not be used to offset operating expenses.
Councilman August Sebastiani said he’d like to see projections of pool use, and revenue generated, by the Sonoma community. “I’m increasingly skeptical about using public funds for a ‘build it and they will come’ model.”
Sean Mullen of Sonoma Splash had told the Sun, “We need to determine the revenue streams for operating costs – for instance, the city, the school district and membership fees – and then present our clear vision with viable solutions on how this project can proceed.”
Barbose said other funding options might be to create a park and recreation district, or levy a parcel tax. Neither plan would attract much support from residents.
On top of the money woes, the pool’s presumptive location, on a parcel between Sonoma High School and Adele Middle School, is far from a unanimous choice.
Brown said he favored a Maxwell Park location. “Let’s get creative, and bring the county in. They don’t have money but they do have land.” That scenario would remove the school district land and money from the equation. “My guess is, if they could take the money out of that fund, they would.”
Sanders said that no matter what the location – her preference is the Veterans Building property – “the county has to be at the table on this. This pool will serve more than just the residents of Sonoma. The city needs to get more partners on board.”
Barbose acknowledged the complaint that if the pool was on school grounds, the district could dictate times and terms of public access. Given such restrictions the facility might not be truly a community pool, he said, but then again, “no school, no land, no money.”
Arlene Kramer, who runs a swim school at Hannah Boys Center at full capacity, said there is a great demand for a new pool but, “I am concerned that if the pool is on district land, there would be no public use during school hours. Restricted use would lower revenue.”
Councilwoman Laurie Gallian said “I’m not against a pool on district land. We need more partners. We have two, we need more.”
