Pool proposal well received at special booth
BY ROGER MORRIS Western News Publisher
The proposal to construct a $3.2 million aquatic complex not only met with good response during Logger Days weekend but committee members came away with more suggestions.
"It was unbelievable," said committee chair Jim Germany. "It was very positive. Everybody said it was about time."
The pool committee had a booth at Logger Days with a large print-out of the architects drawing of the proposal. Committee members handed out cards to people to show their support — 100 cards were returned — and 65 people volunteered, Germany said.
"The naysayers wanted to know what it was going to cost and my grumpiest guy said it was too fancy," Germany continued. "Less than a handful of people against the idea came up but that's to be expected with anything."
And Germany said the committee got great feedback on their proposal. The biggest suggestion, or request, was for a warm-warm therapy pool.
"That's the thing I heard a lot of," he said. Committee members called CTA Architrects and Engineers to look at adding the therapy pool.
"I don't know what that's going to look like," Germany said. "We're still in the preliminary design and can make changes as requested by people."
The porposal calls for a water slide area, a splash pad-spray toy area, a main pool for general activity, a rehabilitation area and a lap pool. A glass structure with opening panels is proposed for the lap pool area for year-round use. The lap pool is a 25-meter pool with 6 lanes and will have a 75-foot by 100-foot enclosure.
The committee used a $15,000 grant from the Libby Area Development Company to develop its plans for a combination indoor-outdoor pool facility to be built adjacent to the Cabinet Mountain Complex, which houses Libby City Hall and the Montana Athletic Club-Libby. Plans were developed by CTA Architects and Engineers, who have also developed plans for the downtown revitalization.
The proposal will be decided via mail ballot by property owners in the Libby Parks District, which is the same as the Libby School District.The committee is proposing a fall ballot period.
Germany said the cost, bonded over a 20-year period, does include annual maintenance costs of $200,000.
The proposal represents a tax increase of $123 a year on a property valued at $100,000.That comes to $10-$12 a month.
Committee members acknowledge that use fees would have to be nominal because taxpayers are footing the bill.
With the special district vote, 40 percent of the registered voters must participate in the mail-in ballot with a majority supporting the pool.
Germany is expected to meet with the Libby Parks District board of trustees this week to begn discussing the bonding process. Committee member Tom Horelick has already met with city officials to discuss acquiring the propoerty for the pool.
"We're going to try to hit as many events as possible this summer to display the proposal and talk to people," Germany said.
The Libby Parks District was formed more than a dozen years ago after a task force started working in 1986 to form a taxing district with the same boundaries as the Libby School District. Efforts to construct a Libby pool date back even further.
A proposal in 2001 estimated the cost of an outdoor pool at $1.4 million and a covered pool at $2.5 million.