Algonac officials consider options for city pool 

Implore residents to give opinions on project

By Barb Pert Templeton

The city pool in Algonac was a staple in the community for decades so when it had to be closed due to a water leak in 2020 it was sorely missed.

Built in 1957, the pool was found to have repair costs exceeding $250,000 so city officials, along with residents including members of a Pool Advisory Committee, worked to find a solution and ultimately decided to seek bids for a new pool.

Since the bids came in at nearly $3 million dollars, much more than anyone planned to spend on the structure, officials now find they are again revaluating what to do and how they might pay for it.

Keeping that in mind they invited Andy Campbell, CPA and director at Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors LLC to give a presentation at a June 18 regular city council meeting, to share ideas about funding for the project. 

The presentation lasted more than an hour going over all the ways the city could fund both the pool and a $4 million dollar boardwalk project. The bottom line was the city could seek bond funding for the money or put a millage on the ballot and have taxpayers help pay for the projects. 

After Campbell’s talk, Councilman Micheal Bembas implored the city resident to step forward now and let officials now if they are for or against the pool project. Do they want the pool and are willing to pay a little more in taxes or do they not want it because it’s too expensive, Bembas said.

Other council members said people can also talk about it at a future meeting or send any member of the council an email sharing their thoughts. 

Mayor Pro Tem Raymond Martin said he wants everyone to realize that whatever the bond payments are for the pool itself the pool always operates at a deficit and costs the city $40,000 annually to operate. 

Campbell agreed and said there are all kinds of costs for things like employees, chemicals to maintain the pool and liability insurance. 

Bembas said a big part of the cost in the past was for the water leak in the pool and general operating costs would likely be much less. He added that actually not a lot of people used the pool that last year it was open, perhaps 1,200, and it was the same people coming back again and again plus some from other communities.

Campbell said if the city needs an extra $20,000 to run the pool, they can add that to the millage for the taxpayers.

Council shares their thoughts

Councilwoman Dawn Davey said what if the city decides to not go with no new taxes for residents but instead scaled down the design of the pool. 

“At that point I would think that if we want to go ahead and do this then it’s a vote by us but not a new tax,” Davey said.

Martin said ground one for the pool was originally $700,000 and then it ballooned to $1.8 million with addons some citizens were recommending and then the bids came in at almost $3 million dollars. 

Bembas said that $700,000 was to fix the pool and then COVID hit and the costs when way up and they got to the $1.8 million because everything has gone up in price since 2020.

“With all respect to my fellow council members if we say dumb down the pool it’s not going to go down that much because you’re basically dealing with the same structure,” Bembas said. 

He said the last city pool lasted 70 years and if they want another one to last that long then it has to been done right.

“We have to decide as a community and as a council is this community willing to pay more in taxes to have a pool,” Bembas said. “And we have to look inside ourselves and say are we the ones that are going to use that pool or is it going to be just a few of the same kids; because we can’t do both, the boardwalk and the pool.”

Davey said it’s important to remember that Algonac is not a “wealthy community” and she wants the pool as much as anybody but they will have to pay for this and the price keeps going up. 

“My opinion is that especially given the time crunch with the contractor I think we need to start from ground zero again, get another drawing, get another design and get our architect,” Davey said.

A look at the numbers 

City Manager Denice Gerstenberg then provided the council with the operating costs for the pool in the past. She said in 2017-2018 the pool lost $51,115 and in 2018-2019 it lost $48,990. The largest operating cost is for life guard wages and they were about $26,000, she said.

The last summer it was open the pool offered swimming lessons for 64 kids and the number of visits to the pool was 1,899 and 1,413 were city residents.

Gerstenberg said they are already talking to the architect about changing the new pool plan including removing the splash pad, reducing the size of the pool and eliminating a picnic area. She said a big part of the cost is for the concrete. 

“It’s not going to be the pool the residents and the committee all had envisioned, it would be something much smaller, we were also talking about having it heated but that might not be an affordable cost anymore,” Gerstenberg said. “We are looking at all of that right now.”

“It’s only open three months out of the year too, we have to remember that,” Councilwoman Cathy Harris said.

Councilman Dale Williams asked if the city should consider revisiting repairing the pool. 

Gerstenberg said they did have a pool expert come out and they didn’t recommend repairing it because it they repaired the pool they’d still have an obsolete mechanical system.

During council comments Martin said he grew up in that pool from when it was built and he is  pro pool and hopes he’s not coming off as being against it with his questions and statements. 

“I just want to be fiscally responsible in what we do,” Martin said. 

Councilman Dale Williams said it’s very important to have the opinions or residents regarding the pool. 

Residents are encouraged to share their thoughts about the pool project in the city by contacting officials at the city’s website at cityofalgonac.org.