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Pool facility springs ahead |
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Thursday, 12 July 2007 |
Pool negotiations poised to begin
By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
Another step toward diving into a new pool for the city of Wapakoneta is expected to take place Monday’s meeting of Wapakoneta City Council.
Rachel Barber, 4th Ward councilor and Parks and Recreation Committee chair, is poised to introduce a recommendation for the preparation of legislation to authorize Safety-Service Director Rex Katterheinrich to enter into negotiations with officials with Brandstetter Carroll Inc. for the construction of an aquatic facility.
“This is another step in the process and I am glad the process is going so smoothly,” Barber said after an Ad Hoc Pool Committee meeting Wednesday at the Wapakoneta City Administration Building. “We also learned at this meeting how smoothly that conveyance of property seems to be going between the school and the city — things are moving as they should to give the people of Wapakoneta the pool they deserve.”
Wapakoneta Schools Operations Director Don Arnett presented committee members with a drawing of 4.969 acres of land to be sold to the city once an agreement can be reached on deed
restrictions. Arnett is proposing the property be sold to the city for $1.
Barber passed out a cost analysis and timetable for the Wapakoneta aquatic facility devised by Mike Carroll of Brandstetter Carroll, the Lexington, Ky.-based architectural and design firm.
“Mike Carroll still feels very confident that we can get Phase I for $1.33 million,” Barber said. “The benefit of what we have now and the situation we are in is we have the site so we don’t have to go out and look for land, we don’t have to worry about constructing parking lots and we don’t have to worry about building a bath house. Our bath house is as big or bigger than most bath houses at other aquatic facilities.”
The second phase at $990,000 includes a lazy river as well as additional equipment and a second slide.
In late June, Ad Hoc Pool Committee members toured three facilities in Moraine, Tipp City and Troy to get a first-hand look at amenities and the advantages and disadvantages of equipment at those pool facilities.
Barber said the visit should help committee members with determining the amenities area residents would like to see at an aquatic facility in Wapakoneta. She anticipates Carroll meeting with committee members in August to discuss these design features.
“I think we would review the types of features that we like and talk about how those structures could be incorporated into the pool as a whole — the feasibility of those structures being a part of the whole pool in a sensible, functional way,” Barber said.
The timetable from Carroll set tentative deadlines of Aug. 31 for a schematic design, Nov. 15 for the completion of construction documents, Dec. 10 for the conclusion of a nearly four-week bidding process.
Carroll’s timetable includes a review by the Ohio Department of Health concluding Dec. 20 with construction starting Dec. 15 and the new facility opening on the Fourth of July.
The construction of a new aquatic facility would include an 8-lane Olympic size competition pool with a zero-degree entry into a play area. The pool would include a heater, new filtration system and several amenities.
In past meetings, committee members talked at length about the need for separate filtration systems for the play area and the competition pool. They also discussed the inclusion of a separate fenced-in baby pool area.
Parks and Recreation Committee member Bonnie Wurst, 3rd Ward councilor, talked with Carroll about their fee, learning the fee is built into the estimate for the pool’s construction. Typically the firm charges 7 percent of the total construction cost.
After touring Moraine, Ad Hoc Pool Committee members learned the importance of using a professional services firm, Barber said.
“The reason you work with a firm like Brandstetter Carroll is they are professionals and they have a lot of experience in dealing with state and local officials to complete an aquatic facility,” Barber said. “Another reason to work with a firm with the experience Brandstetter Carroll has is you can put faith in the fact this is a realistic timetable.” |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 13 July 2007 )
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