Next week, Vashon Park District commissioners will decide if they will delay taking action on the proposal to cover the Vashon Pool until they have resolved an issue with the school district.

At the park board meeting last Tuesday, all five commissioners were present, and Scott Harvey made a motion that would require the board to wait to act on the pool proposal until after the park and school districts settle on a new commons agreement. In recent years, the park district has paid the school district $100,000 a year for the use of school facilities, including the sports fields, gyms and classrooms. But earlier this year park district commissioners said they wanted to reevaluate that agreement. That process is underway, but a deadline for a resolution has not been established. Harvey’s motion, which commissioners will vote on at their March 28 meeting, also called for the park district to make potential new pool funding part of an overall park district plan.

Following the meeting, Harvey said the rationale for his motion was simple.

“Vashon Park District has no idea how much money it has available until a commons agreement is in place,” he said.

Harvey credited the Seals Swim Team with what he called a good and well thought out proposal. The proposal, drafted with the park district, spells out a plan to cover the Vashon Pool part of the year with an inflatable bubble.

“In a perfect world we would have a pool cover here,” he said. “I support the idea. It is just whether we have the money for the idea.”

He also noted a long list of deferred maintenance projects, including the need for a new roof at the Ober Park building, renovation of the athletic fields at Agren Park and regrading the parking lot at Lisabeula.

“There were a lot of things that needed to get done before this idea even came to us,” he said.

Indeed, some of the information provided at the meeting that evening included a full page of deferred maintenance and capital project needs, which park district Executive Director Elaine Ott-Rocheford supplied. Depending upon potential grant opportunities, the costs to complete them would be between $2 million to more than $5 million.

Following the meeting, the board president of the Seals, Karin Choo, said she had mixed feelings about a potential delay in the decision process.

“I certainly understand and applaud them for wanting to have a clearer picture of what their financial picture is in the coming years as it relates to the commons agreement,” she said. “At the same time, we have momentum for this project now and would like to see it move forward in a timely way.”

It is unclear when the commons issue might be resolved. School board member Bob Hennessey said on Monday that the school district is wrapping up calculating its maintenance costs, and the park district has completed its usage data.

“It’s fair to say we expect to meet to negotiate what amount is fair,” he said.

At the park district meeting last week, however, some district officials indicated they did not want simply a numbers conversation about the agreement, but a philosophical conversation.

Hennessey noted that other than the fact the park district wants to be clear about its finances before acting on the pool, he believes the pool and the commons agreement are separate concerns.

“I do not see the issues as connected,” he said. “We want to do what is in the best interest of the community. My goal is not to have the community suffer based on disagreements between two boards. We are all grownups, and we are going to figure this out. Everyone has the best interests of the community at heart.”

Whenever that conversation has concluded, Harvey said he expects pool talks will move ahead.

“As soon as we get things resolved with the commons agreement, then I think it would be time to talk about a number of things, including the pool cover,” he said.

Regarding finances, Ott-Rocheford said the Vashon Park District has the funds to pay for its portion of the estimated costs for the pool project this year and, working with rough projections, next year. It could do so, she added, while not taking out a tax anticipation note (a loan) and setting aside money for reserves.

Like Harvey, she expressed mixed feelings about moving ahead with the pool proposal — and stressed it is the board’s decision to make.

“It’s a really cool idea, and it would be a nice thing for the community. The Seals have worked hard on this proposal. The board gets that. I get that. Everybody gets that,” she said. “On the other hand, some of the commissioners are concerned about the park district’s deferred maintenance. It is a tough call.”

Now, with a wait likely, Choo said Seals board members have asked its team members and others in the community who would like to have year-round access to a public pool to write the park commissioners and The Beachcomber and comment on stories as they come out. She noted that many in the community support the pool. In the recent park district survey, the pool came in first for deferred maintenance that should be addressed, and it came in third on a wish list of priorities, behind having access to more public restrooms and increased programming.

As the Seals are continuing their efforts, Choo said that she and others have also reached out to the Friends of the Vashon Pool, which is now more of an ad hoc group, and others who have focused on the pool in the past.

“This is not going to happen if it is just the Seals,” she said. “We need the whole community to come together.”

Choo noted that the Seals team has big dreams for the pool, and the proposed bubble is important to those.

“We feel like this is a very important intermediate step for the long-term vision for what the Vashon Pool should be,” she said. “We feel this is a great way to get started.”

Questions?

Karin Choo has offered to talk to anyone who is interested in the pool proposal or has concerns about it. She can be reached via email at chookl@comcast.net.

The Vashon Park District commissioners will meet next at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, at Ober Park. They meet on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. The public is welcome.