Simplified: After four years of planning, several delayed votes and nearly a year of debate, tweaking and tinkering, the Sioux Falls City Council has come to an agreement on future plans for new pools.
- The council on Tuesday passed the first reading of a $68 million bond to fund a new outdoor pool at Kuehn Park and a new indoor pool and recreation center at Frank Olson Park.
Why it matters
- The city has been talking about the need to replace the aging facilities at both the west-side and east-side pools for four years now. Those discussions initially resulted in a proposed $77 million bond vote presented to the council last spring.
- However, when councilors couldn't agree on what it should cost the public to use the facilities, the bond went back to the drawing board.
- Several more changes came up along the way – including the council rejecting the city's plan to reimburse itself for the purchase of the $9 million Sanford Wellness Center (now known as the Westside Recreation Center) and further rein-tightening to keep total costs down.
- City Finance Director Shawn Pritchett emphasized during Tuesday's meeting that the bond and subsequent new facilities will not increase taxes, but rather, the bond will be backed and repaid by the city's existing second penny sales tax fund.
- Councilor Rich Merkouris said he sees it as an investment in the city's future and a way to encourage the mantra of "recreate, not incarcerate" by giving residents an accessible place to go after the city did away with the community center model.
"We're not building a Taj Mahal just for select few in this community," Merkouris said. "We are truly trying to develop a vision that moves the whole community forward."
Tell me more about the final version of the bond
Ok, yeah, there have been a number of changes made over the last year since this thing was first put in front of the City Council.
- For one, the makeup of the council is markedly different, with four new members who took office last spring.
Here's a quick rundown of some important specifics:
- The bond includes funding for the following:
- $18 million to construct a new outdoor pool at Kuehn Park,
- $47 million for an indoor aquatics and recreation facility at Frank Olson Park
- $3 million for improvements to the Westside Recreation Center (e.g. a new roof, parking lot fixes).
- The ordinance councilors advanced establishes a 20-year term for the bond.
- The ordinance also puts in strict guardrails for how much money can be spent on each facility – including no more than a 5% variance from the numbers listed above.
- The bond will also be broken up into two phases. The city will need to get council approval of the design of the Frank Olson facility before moving forward with the part of the bond for construction costs.
Pritchett also noted that the city has taken into account the ongoing costs to operate these facilities in the future.
"Yes, if we have an indoor facility (the city) will incur some additional expenses," Pritchett said, adding, "But the rate of return we would have from that type of facility would be much higher (than outdoor pools only usable a few months each year)."
Tell me more about what I can expect from the new pools
For sure. Final designs aren't in place yet, but here's a look at the plans that have been made public so far:
Megan Raposa
What happens next?
The bond ordinance has to pass a second (and final) vote from the council next week.
Then, councilors will get several updates on the Frank Olson recreation center design.
- The city will be forming an ad hoc "Design Advisory Team" to oversee this process, and the council is expecting updates when the design is 25%, 55% and 85% completed.
