Members of Friends of the Mountain Lake Area Swimming Pool in attendance
Members of the Mountain Lake Public School (MLPS) School Board (Chair Doug Standerwick, Vice-Chair Tim Swoboda, Clerk Julie Brugman, Treasurer Pam Hoek and Directors Chad Pedersen, Matt Gohr and Tom Fast) held a joint meeting with the school’s Building Committee. Members of the MLPS Building Committee include Chair Tim Swoboda and Vice-Chair Tom Appel, along with Cheri Hanson, Jerry Haberman, Bruce Swanson, Bryan Bargen, Vern Peterson, Shawn Naas and John Carrison.
The meeting was scheduled to continue discussion and planning on a possible building proposal referendum to be presented to school district residents for a vote at a future date. But, the current situation of the indoor swimming pool – along with it future – prompted a group from Friends of the Mountain Lake Area Pool to also attend the meeting.
Their concern? An $800 repair was recently completed to fix a swimming pool pump. That repair led to complications with the entire pump system, and, following the repair, the pump began to leak. It started small and grew. As a result, the pump was immediately shut down. Fortunately the leak was discovered when staff was in the building, and did not occur over a weekend or holiday. The entire pump system must be replaced at a cost of $5,000. MLPS Superintendent Bill Strom believes the school board needs to take action on this in light of recent discussions on the future of the pool. As of now, the pool has been closed. Water is no longer being circulated through the filter system that is dependent on the pump. In addition, the water for the pool is no longer being heated, but the air in the pool room is.
While the future of the swimming pool was discussed, including an informational hand-out, no talks were held on its immediate needs.
Superintendent Strom began the meeting by facilitating discussion about the road the Building Committee has taken in order to reach a building improvement proposal. The school board and committee has been working with Paul Youngquist, architect for Architects Rego + Younquist (ARY) of St. Louis Park, a planning and design firm that specializes in community facilities. To learn what has been discussed for building proposals, go to: http://www.cross-countiesconnect.com/2016/07/mlps-school-board-meets-thursday-with-building-committee-architect/.
The pool report distributed included a history of the pool, along with the results of the referendum vote at that time concerning that ballot decision. (The decision to build the pool passed by 6 votes 46 years ago). The diving board was removed this fall as regulations on the depth required has been changed. The deep end depth of the pool is 9′. Funding for the 120,000 gallon water capacity pool is through the Community Service Fund and the General Fund, in addition to the financial support of the City of Mountain Lake, not to exceed $15,000 per year. Additional revenue is through swimming lesson tuition, swimming fees and gifts.
For fiscal years 2011-2016, the average annual revenue from tuition and fees, as well as gifts and bequests (including the monetary assist from the city) is tallied at $29,628.02. Average expenses for that same time period (including estimated utility and personnel costs – based on fiscal year 2006) stands at $75,062.96.
Ninety percent of the pool usage is by the community, with 10% school district-related usage. The report also noted that fiscal year 2016 tuition and fees has decreased by 34% since 2012 – from $17,211.10 to $11,358.30.
Pool repair costs listed by ARY include the following for total hard costs:
- Pool, mechanical, heater, deck, etc. – $342,860.
- Pool ventilation – $450,000.
- Wall repair and tuckpointing – $164,000.
- Filtration system – $175,000.
- Doors – $120,000.
- Power to mechanical – $120,000.
- For total hard costs of – $1,371,860.
Additional costs for architectural and engineering fees ($96,030); permits, testing and surveys ($68,593) and construction contingencies ($68,593) adds $233,216 to the cost of repairing the pool.
Together, total estimated costs are $1,605,076.
Only four other area school districts operate a district pool – Fulda, Heron Lake, St. James and Jackson. The list is longer for city-owned and operated pools – Lamberton, Springfield, Lakefield, St. James, Adrian, Westbrook, Cedar Mountain, Sleepy Eye, Tracy, Windom and Worthington.
The discussion consensus among school board and building committee members was that the swimming pool is an important entity, but difficult questions remain as to its financial feasibility. Building Committee Member Bruce Swanson noted that construction of a new swimming pool by the city would have a cost not much higher than repairs and reconstruction to the current indoor pool.
Building Committee members have spent a large amount of time discussing the possibility of presenting a two-question building referendum ballot to school district voters – one question dealing with building remodeling, with the second on swimming pool repair. No firm decision on that proposition has been made.