Pool project would come with $1.7 mil. higher price tag

The Sidney City Council decided to continue to move forward with the contract on a new community pool on Tuesday night, despite hearing that the cost has risen $1.7 million.

The city council heard a presentation from Water Technology Inc. on the proposed outdoor swimming pool and water aquatics park at Legion Park.

"It's really about providing a quality of life for residents here in Sidney," said Doug Whitaker of Water Technology. "It's appealing to children of all ages, they'll be able to have a fun place with their family, their friends, their neighborhood and it could add another reason for people to come to Sidney."

The current cost of the project is expected to be $6.2 million, up from the initial estimate last year of $4.5 million.

The council members said they were weary of the possibilities of having so much added on to the cost of the pool, but that they were aware of the trend of communities added aquatic centers. Nevertheless, the aquatic center, in its proposed form, would exceed the budget by nearly $2 million.

Whitaker said the costs have risen due to the schedules and demand of workers in the past year.

"When we started pitting together all the numbers and the cost around a year and a half ago for that facility, it came to around $4.5 million," Whitaker said. "I had the same contractor that had done some preliminary pricing for us a year ago, and one of the things we've seen are that the pricing of a year ago is not valid today.

"There's been some escalation in the cost, and I just wanted to make sure everybody knows that to get from this cost of $6.2 million back down to $4.5 million, that's not just changing paint colors or making the pool a little bit smaller. That's some major surgery that has to take place."

Whitaker stressed all prices are just estimates until a final blueprint is developed. The council will weigh in on a multitude of options such as delaying the splash pad or leisure pool until more funds are available to support these amenities.

Taking away pieces from the pool plan didn't sit well strategically with Whitaker.

"When your original pool was built, it was quality construction and that's why it's lasted as long as it has," Whitaker said. "You can make changes in terms of the systems and what not but what that means is it'll (have) less of a life span and, quite frankly, that makes it more difficult for today's operators to maintain it. It's important to look at not sacrificing the quality for operations and the user experience just to get to the numbers."

The council still has a number of issues to iron out before actual construction of the pool would be underway. The contract with Water Technology Inc. will be reviewed and brought back to the council at a future meeting.

In other council action, new plan for the new Love's Travel Stop underwent a few minor changes that will require planning commission approval before moving toward the construction stage.

"Love's will completely rebuild Chase Boulevard to their standards," said city manager Gary Person. "Hofees Drive will be redesigned and will have a larger turning radius at their expense because on the east side of the road is where they'll build an economy motel and their employee residential area."

"We have to go back to the planning commission," Person said. "In the end, it's all about getting it right. At this point, we don't have to rush to the construction phase."

Love's now plans on starting construction of their travel stop, Economy motel, restaurant and employee residence between late April and early May.

The next council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 11.