$1 Million Pool Fix Approved by Saline City Council

Saline City Council voted 5-2 to approve a $1 million fix for the Saline Rec Center pool.

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The council voted to approve a contract with Boone & Darr, Inc, for the purchase and installation of the replacement dehumidification unit for the natatorium. The total price is pegged at $1.062,000. The new equipment won't be installed for 20-22 weeks. Mayor Brian Marl and Councillors Chuck Lesch,  Jack Ceo, Nicole Rice and Jenn Harmount voted in favor of the motion. Councillors Janet Dillon and Dean Girbach voted against the motion. Girbach, with the support of Dillon, had offered a motion to delay a decision until August. By then, the committee was scheduled to issue a report on the future of the Rec Center, which ran a $400,000 deficit last year before the issue with the dehumidifier reached a breaking point.

The city is expected to bond for the issue and pay $150,000 a year for the dehumidifying unit over the next 14 years.

The city may pay the first installment out of the fund balance.

Many residents - some from the city, some from neighboring towns - spoke about the matter during public comment. Most of the people spoke in support of funding the Rec Center improvements.

"I am a swimmer. I am there six days a week. It's very important for us, our physical health and our mental health," one woman said.

Another woman said that exercise in the pool has helped her live with rheumatoid arthritis.

"I can't tell you how good it is to be to do this every day,"  Janet Sutherland said.

Another woman started taking water aerobics after she was diagnosed with osteoporosis. She's been teaching for 30 years.

"I've learned to appreciate it," Mary Gregg said. "We've built a community there."

Mitch Rohde asked the city council to delay a decision until it could properly assess the situation.

"I acknowledge the Rec Center is an important part of the community and people love it, but I think spending $1 million of taxpayer money warrants careful consideration," Rhode said. "The center has had deficits for years. It's a very expensive band-aid that doesn't address the underlying conditions."

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Saline Parks and Recreation Director Sunshine Lambert pleaded with council to invest in the next dehumidifier.

"We are hanging on by a thread at this point to keep the aquatic center open," Lambert said. "We would lose significant revenue if we had to shut the pools down. We can't wait any longer."

Girbach and Dillon started rather slow and didn't get into the meat of their argument until their second pass through the questions.

Dillon asked how the city was going to pay the $150,000 a year for equipment. Acting Manager Elle Cole said the city would have to find that money in the general fund until the task force makes recommendations for other sources of revenue.

Dillon asked if the city was going to cancel a road project to fund the dehumidifier.

Both Dillon and Girbach mentioned other big ticket items, like the Mill Pond Dam improvements and the increasing cost of the Saline Area Fire Department as among the many competing priorities.

"We have to prioritize," Dillon said.

Girbach made the motion to postpone action until August, which would give the city's task force time to answer fundamental questions about the feasibility of the Rec Center. Girbach noted there have been four committees and task forces to study the Rec Center in the last 13-14 years. The last committee was supposed to study whether or not the city could afford to operate a Rec Center. Instead, it came back to the city council and recommended nearly $20 million worth of expansion and improvements.

Girbach said the failing dehumidifier could break down tomorrow and close the pool for months, whether the city delays the decision to purchase or not. He noted that he's wanted to deal with this issue since 2020 and the issue has been put off.

"The problem has to be solved and it's not being answered by throwing another $1 million at the issue. I want a plan," Girbach said. "The management and oversight of this facility over the last year and a half, it's not on our current manager, has been a complete, misleading disaster."

Councillor Nicole Rice said she was disappointed to be facing this situation at the Rec Center. She said she didn't disagree with Girbach's assessment. 

"But I do feel we should not risk the Rec Center by letting the system fail. If we want to be able to do anything with this building, even selling it off, can't do it as it currently exists," Rice said.

Rice and Girbach are on the task force studying the Rec Center. Rice said it's her goal to find an entity to help take some of the pressure off the 10,000 residents who've been funding the center by their lonesome.

Ceo and Marl both said it made no sense to delay a decision when one for he key complaints was dithering.

Dillon once again brought up the cost. She said between the $400,000 deficit and the first year of funding the dehumidifier, that's a mill-worth of tax dollars.

She said she'd like to give the issue to the voters to consider.

Girbach's motion fell by a 5-2 vote. He and Dillon were the only supporters.

Marl introduced the motion to spend $1 million on the dehumidifier. He said everything was on a great trajectory at the Rec Center just before COVID. He said membership levels were devastated and have never recovered.

He said the Rec center was at a fork in the road and that he hopes the task force can recommend ways to turn things up again at the center. Council voted 5-2 to approve the measure.

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