In an interview with the Examiner, Friends of the Pool (FOP) Chair Suzanne Perin acknowledged mistakes were made during last year’s Proposition 1 campaign to create a taxing authority for an aquatic center in the valley.
During the campaign, FOP denied there was a design plan or that the pool would run $20 million, despite a public meeting in Jan. of 2023 in which a consultant hired by FOP stated otherwise.
“I would say that there were many things that were not done in a very professional manner during that campaign and that is done, we have moved on, we learned our lessons and we are trying to look forward,” said Perin.
When pressed about the $20 million figure FOP tried to suppress, Perin said, “It was one of the many options that had been laid out. It was there. Pools are really expensive and I would like to find a way for it to not cost $20 million. We would like to build a replacement pool. That means one more lane, is what the swim team would really like, so it’s 8 feet wider than the pool is right now.”
The current pool has five lanes. The minimum desirable for competitive swimming is six lanes. Perin said she didn’t know whether the current location could accommodate another lane and would have to hire professionals to evaluate.
A flyer by Friends of the Pool posted at a listening session at the Grange in November ruled out the current Wagner location, but Perin wasn’t so sure.
She declined to state anything specific about a new pool, except that it would most likely be in Twisp given its walkability by children in the area.
The current pool location is at the confluence of two rivers. The water table raises the bottom of the concrete swimming pool every spring before receding, causing cracks. The pool liner, which helps protect the concrete from the chlorinated water, also needs to be repaired and re-repaired, said Perin. The last liner was put on eight years ago and it is only supposed to last five. FOP has raised funds for patches where the liner has cracked.
“There could be some technologies in the new pool-building nowadays that would prevent the problems that that pool has had, where it’s a concrete body, because there are steel sided pools now and they’re more flexible. They put them in earthquake zones so they flex more. They’re also more expensive.” says Perin.
There are several things Perin doesn’t yet know, like how much more it would cost to put in a steel pool to replace the current concrete one.
“It’s the trade-off between having to buy a new piece of land versus an expensive pool,” said Perin.
Perin said she loves the current location but doesn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to buy property due to other proposed development.
“If we can’t have Wagner pool, it’s an awesome location, we really love it, but we also realize that if we can’t build there, we want to have some of those same characteristics, so that’s why we’re talking about that too, like what are the things that we appreciate the most about that spot?” said Perin.
She said it would be great to have an encased pool that wouldn’t have to close if the air quality was poor from smoke, as well as a place with more parking.
Building within Twisp city limits would be beneficial in terms of water rights, sewer availability and access to utilities, but Perin said FOP isn’t ready to lean one way or another.
The town of Twisp operates the pool, which means they set the chemicals each day, winterize the pool and get it operational in the spring.
Perin said she didn’t know why the leaks in the pool weren’t repaired in time for the pool to open this summer, only saying that the town has to wait for the water table to drop to begin filling the pool to locate the leaks.
Following the defeat of Prop 1, FOP reached out to community members who were against Prop 1 to join FOP’s board.
“With new people coming on board, we’re just trying to reevaluate what we know about the area, the facility and new technologies.”
During a listening session in Twisp in November, participants expressed a wish list in what they wanted for a pool facility, but nobody seemed eager to pay for it.
When asked if a pool could be built without a local tax, Perin declined to comment.
“That was part of the lesson of Prop 1, is it went straight there- let’s tax and build this thing and get it all done. There were pieces along the way that didn’t happen that needed to, and we’re trying to do some of those right now. Some design work, really digging into the economics of this area and what our area can support in a swimming pool. We have these grand plans from the consultant about different options and we’re going back to the drawing board and saying this isn’t viable. It seems too big and too extravagant, so what does it mean to fit things into the Methow Valley, and so I’d say that’s where we are now.”
“Part of what we’re trying to do now is say we learned from that, we heard the community, we’ve heard from about 70% of the voters that having a tax for something that was full of unknowns isn’t what people wanted. Absolutely. Hear it. Now we’re going back to the drawing board. We have some new people on the board who were against that tax, but are interested in a pool, and we’re working towards a new vision.”
To make the vision happen, FOP is looking at the pool on Lopez Island, which broke ground this fall, as well as on South Whidbey Island, which is in the planning stage of being built. FOP is also looking at pools in smaller towns like Dayton and Quincy. FOP is not currently working with Ballard King as a consultant, says Perin, choosing instead to work with a program called Build a Pool through USA swimming.
“We want to find a way to do this, so every option is on the table,” said Perin.
I would love for the pool to be funded, but not through a park district that can continue to tax us for other projects! Once you give them the authority, they seem to think like the government, that they have an unlimited budget.