Many members of the nine member swimming pool committee spoke to the city council during the June 26 Chatfield City Council meeting. Co-chair Julie Henry said the committee has been meeting monthly.
The pool is over 50 years old and has many issues, the most recent a significant leak in the main pool which has been fixed temporarily with caulk. The pool opened in 1965. The bathhouse was paid for through fundraisers in 1966. Some renovations occurred in 1994. In 2015, Burbach Aquatics prepared a report which detailed a list of issues with the aging pool.
The committee has looked at different pool designs, taking into consideration the demographics of the community now and those expected in the future. The basic pool they are looking at would have six 25-yard lanes and zero depth entry. Five possible locations for a new pool were considered. The committee recommends a site on the high school grounds across from the tennis courts.
The cost of a basic pool, bath house, and mechanical system with building is $3,659,000. It was estimated that building the new facility could raise property taxes for a home valued at $100,000 about $9.17 per month or for a home valued at $300,000 about $36 per month.
The cost will increase when features like diving boards, climbing wall, and water slides are added to a total cost of $4.4 million. These features will cause property taxes on a $100,000 home to increase by another $2 per month and on a $300,000 home to increase another $8 per month. The committee suggests if their recommendations go forward, the new pool could open in 2019.
The committee recommended distributing a survey in the community. Approval was given for the swimming pool survey which will be mailed out to all residents.
Industrial Drive improvement project
City Engineer Tom Kellogg explained that there were five bidders for the Industrial Drive project. The project was bid in three segments to give the council flexibility to do some or all of the proposed project. He noted the bids mostly came in under the engineer’s estimate.
City Cerk Joel Young said that MiEnergy has a revolving loan fund and this project could qualify for a $300,000 no interest loan to be paid back over 10 years. The project may also be eligible for a Minnesota grant in the amount of around $150,000. The possibility of this grant would not be there if the bid were already awarded. He said it would be prudent to wait until the July 10 meeting to accept a bid to see if the grant is awarded.
Kellogg explained that waiting would not interfere with the time table for the project. November 2016 is the projected interim completion date and the final completion is expected by the end of June 2018.
Segment 1 includes roadway, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and water lines. It is the most costly and the most likely to be done. No utility work will be done in segment 2 and segment 3 extends the project another 350 feet to provide access to three lots. The decision to award a contract was tabled until July 10.
Mike Bubany, David Drown and Associates, explained the bonding process. He acknowledged that the amount the city would need to borrow could change depending on the grant and the number of segments the council decides to go forward with. He said he will come back on July 24 to finalize his recommendations dependent on the council’s July 10 decision.
Bubany said there will be two bonding authorities, one for sanitary sewer/storm sewer/water or the disposal system authority which can be paid back through sewer revenues or tax levy. The street costs will use a tax abatement authority. Parcels that benefit from the street will be identified, but in reality no one’s taxes will be calculated differently.
Other business in brief
• Approval was given for the purchase of Christmas street decorations from Temple Display at a cost of $13,267.80. The price is discounted by 40%. Included in the price is a decoration that goes across Main St.
• A quote from Griffin Construction in the amount of $350 per foot was accepted to raise two manholes east of the 1100 block off Highway 52. The manholes are buried too deep to find with a metal detector device.
• Part-time summer helper Jake Mandt will not be able to work the rest of the summer due to an injury sustained off the job. The council approved the hire of Carter Fishbaugher to replace Mandt for the 2017 summer.
• Brian Burkholder said it was in the plans to plant reed bed number 8 in 2016. CWG Construction Wetlands Group will be in the area. Approval was given to restore the existing reed bed for wastewater treatment at a cost of $11,500.
• Carts vs bags for garbage pick-up were again discussed. It was decided to conduct a survey to give the Public Services committee some direction on which method more residents wish to go with.
• Chatfield was recognized by the Department of the Interior. This is the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Chatfield has been in the program since 1998.
• The 2016 population estimate for the city of Chatfield was 2,855. The number of households was estimated to be 1,123.