White River Junction
In the ad hoc committee’s final report at Tuesday’s Selectboard Meeting, Chairwoman Hilde Ojibway recommended a publicly funded facility adjacent to Hartford High School, where utility infrastructure already in place would help save hundreds of thousands compared with construction at a new site.
Much like the current pools — 52-year-old structures that were shuttered indefinitely last summer due to chronic leakage problems and code deficiencies — the new facility should include a main pool as well as a smaller pool for young children and seniors, the advisory committee said.
Added amenities should include ample shaded areas, “zero entry” access where water depth gradually increases on a ramp-like grade, and areas for a slide and spray features. The amenity recommendations were gleaned from survey work conducted over the summer to gauge public interest.
More than 750 people responded to surveys on the pool situation, and nearly 80 percent said it was important for Hartford to have an outdoor pool.
“My impression is that most people simply want to restore what we had, with a few modernizations,” Ojibway said on Friday. “The biggest improvement, I think, is more shade. All of the other features, like the climbing wall, don’t even need to be part of the project, but we recommended that the infrastructure at least be put in place in case at some point they want to be added. Most people just want to restore the service of a public pool.”
Including the extra amenities and demolition of the current facilities, a preliminary cost estimate is in the range of $3.6 million, according to Mark Mariano, a project manager with the engineering and consulting firm Weston & Sampson.
The Advisory Committee’s final report recommended that the Selectboard seek a design and engineering assessment for the new facility to get a firmer cost figure prior to placing a bond vote for the project. That engineering work could cost $50,000 to $70,000, Mariano said at Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting.
“The next step is making a decision about whether or not we want to commit to building a pool,” Selectboard Chairman Simon Dennis said on Friday. “We’re not going to send a $3.6 million bond vote to ballot without a full commitment, or spend $50,000 to $70,000 on engineering work if it’s not something the Selectboard is committed to.”
The new facility likely would last 40 to 45 years, Mariano said, while renovating the current facility simply to bring it within code compliance would cost approximately $1.26 million and extend its service life for 6 to 8 years.
Other locations, such as Kilowatt Park in Wilder, Dothan Brook School on Route 5 North and Hartford Village’s Watson Park also were considered as potential sites for a new pool facility, but the Hartford High site was deemed most prudent because of the infrastructure in place. That includes existing parking and locker room space and utility connections such as power, public water and public sewer that bring approximately $400,000 to $500,000 of value to the site, according to the Weston & Sampson report.
Concerns raised by Selectboard members on Tuesday included the cost of admission to the new facility and how it would relate to other swimming areas such as the Upper Valley Aquatic Center, charges an annual rate of $269 for a Hartford resident aged 3-13 to $676 for a nonresident adult. Mariano estimated that new pool sites his company has been involved charge in the neighborhood of $3 per person per visit.
“I would hate to propose this beautiful, gorgeous pool that low-income members of our community should be able to use — because right now they can’t afford UVAC — and then we go and say, ‘Guess what? The price for a season pass is now comparable to UVAC,’ ” Selectboard member Rebecca White said.
“We didn’t get as far as admission rates because it’s (the Selectboard’s) decision whether to build the pool, and which parts of it might be subsidized,” Ojibway responded.
Selectboard member Dick Grassi said it would be important to emphasize to the public that construction of a new pool facility likely could take years to implement. Town Manager Leo Pullar, on hand at the meeting, offered a realistic timeline that included a bond vote in 2020, construction in 2021 and availability beginning in 2022.
“That’s if nothing goes wrong,” Pullar said.
Another member of the Selectboard, Alan Parker, called for a market study to help decide which kinds of features could make it attractive for patrons. After Sherman Manning Pools closed in summer 2015 for repairs, attendance at the facility dipped moderately in 2016 and 2017.
“We’d be competing with some pretty nice facilities like the (Upper Valley) Aquatic Center and Storrs Pond, as well as any number of rivers and streams,” Parker said. “We’d have to keep in mind the high value of things that might flip the revenue side of things to help make it more palatable for people to visit.”
The committee also recommended collaborating with the Hartford School District for improvements at the pool, which overlaps in August with preseason practices for various Hartford fall sports teams on adjacent fields. When that overlap has occurred in the past, pool users have used the locker rooms inside the high school while sports teams use the field house adjacent to the pool.
“At some point, the school district may want to re-do the locker rooms in the school,” Ojibway said. “If that happens, I hope the town will collaborate with the school and consider adding things like family changing rooms that pool users could use.”
Ojibway lamented the project’s potential timeline for a 2022 completion, noting those who would miss out on a municipal pool during that time.
“I think the biggest lesson from all of this is that as a community, we need to be more proactive in protecting the services that matter to us,” Ojibway said. “When we allow things to fall into conditions like this, they can’t be fixed overnight.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.