The Bainbridge Island Metro Parks and Recreation District continued to discuss how to pay for pool renovations at its most recent meetings.

Assistant executive director Amy Swenson said Phase I of the Ray Williamson pool renovation project addresses the critical items for an estimated cost of up to $3.8 million. Phase II Option A includes the filter system, windows, deck, liner and additional items bringing the total estimated cost to $5.5 million.

Option B would add additional lanes and pool depth at a total cost of up to $11 million.

The pool was built in 1970. In 2016 discussion began about upgrades. In 2021 the board decided to extend the pool’s life for up to 50 years with upgrades at a cost of $5.5 million. To fund more lanes and add depth to the pool, funding options include: 1) utilize reserves and the Capital Improvement Fund budget, 2) borrow non-voted debt to fund either just Phase I or both Phase I and Phase II Option A, 3) use voted debt to fund entire project, 4) use up to $3 million from reserves and voted debt, loan or donations to pay the remainder.

Commissioner Tom DeWitt said his concerns with funding scenario 1 include excluding every other project from funding for a time. Commissioner Tom Goodlin added parks should not hamstring itself by committing all its funds to one project when there are so many other needs. The board agreed to remove scenario 1 as a funding option, documents say.

DeWitt said regarding scenario 3 he does not think parks can wait for a bond to either pass or fail. The earliest opportunity to have a bond on the ballot is August, which means the loss of a construction season. So, the board agreed to remove scenario 3 from consideration.

Commissioner Dawn Janow said the board requests that staff bring more information regarding scenarios 2 and 4 to the next board meeting.

DeWitt said money borrowed through non-voted debt will impact operations by reducing the amount available in the budget for a period of time while payments are made.

Goodlin said if Option B is pursued it will require the pool to be shut down for a longer period. There would be a natural movement of pool users to the Bainbridge Island Recreation Center pool if it could be kept open throughout the construction period by having a temporary seasonal cover over it.

Janow clarified that Option B cannot be completed without a bond. While Phase I and Phase II Option A would strap parks financially, it looks like Phase I can be completed and if Phase II Option A has to be bumped out it can be, she added.

She noted that a bond measure must attain 60% approval to pass. It was said that putting a bubble over the BIRC pool could help people get excited about voting for a bond.

Meanwhile, Recreation Division director Madison Collins said BIRC is up 205 memberships from the same time last year. BIRC is also up about $60,000 in sales from the same time last year, which includes personal training, small group training, tennis lessons and concessions.

Park Services Division director Dan Hamlin introduced civil engineer Bryan Ransom from Kitsap Public Utility District. KPUD and parks signed an agreement to expand the KPUD easement at Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve so they could build a larger water storage tank. That pact was approved by the board in 2021. KPUD staff found out recently that it can’t build the large concrete tank it was planning because there is a fault line running directly underneath the site. The solution is to build three smaller concrete tanks in the general footprint of the originally proposed large tank. Smaller tanks are cheaper to build and easier to maintain, documents say.

In public comments, Loanne Harmeling said that Bainbridge Community Tennis Association received a $50,000 grant from the Rotary Club toward the two new tennis courts planned for Sakai Park. She said that she is hopeful that there could eventually be four tennis courts there as the tennis community has always wanted more courts and the two planned courts will be replacing the two at Battle Point Park.

In board member remarks, Janow said she is interested in parks establishing a small scholarship for a Bainbridge High School senior. She said it could be a way to draw kids to jobs with the district and reward kids who have worked for it. Also, executive director Terry Lande said thank you to everyone who came to his retirement party.