GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Green Bay’s Finance Committee left out the Colburn Pool project when it approved 2018-19 bonding requests at its meeting Tuesday night.
Committee members say they want to wait until Monday’s full city council meeting before debating whether the project should be included in the bonding requests.
Green Bay’s city council has gone back and forth the last six years on what to do with the deteriorating west-side pool.
The current project is $2.3 million more than what the city council agreed to spend on the pool last July.
Instead of renovating the aging Colburn Pool, Mayor Jim Schmitt tels FOX 11 he’d rather spend $100,000 to put a three to five year Band-Aid on it and come up with a better plan for area swimmers.
“I think in that time we start saving money, we start looking at other options for the competitive Olympic-sized pool, and we look at a better plan for a neighborhood pool.”
The current Colburn Pool renovation project has a $6.8 million price tag.
The pool would have eight 50-meter lap lanes, a well deep enough for swim meets, and a zero-depth entry.
A new 46-stall parking lot and storm water management area would also be installed to the west of the existing pool.
Schmitt says his issue is the pool currently loses $96,000 per year.
“When you do the expansion, it actually loses more because the expansion requires additional lifeguards and so it will lose over $100,000 a year. That is a lot for the city of Green Bay to take every year.”
Swimming advocates believe the ability to hold competitive swim meets would help.
“If we can get the meet going the way I want to get the meet going, you’re probably looking at a $40,000 meet,” said David Korst, a coach with the Green Bay YMCA Swim Club.
“Why can’t that money, or some of that money go back to the city to help pay for the pool?”
Alderman Mark Steuer says he is leaning toward adding in Colburn Pool when the city council takes up the city’s yearly bonding requests next week.
“My thought is over a 50-year period that bond will be paid off and we’ll see some good things. The problem is that it’s this year and we’re looking at specifics. It’s going to be that extra kick right now and we have to worry about our debt ratio and such.”
City finance officials warn Moody’s has said the city’s bond rating could be impacted by any additional bonding. However, no specifics were given.
In December 2016, Schmitt vetoed a $6.8 million plan for a new pool at Colburn Park.
At that time, Schmitt said 20 years of interest payments and operational costs would have upped the price tag to $11.2 million.
Private donors contributed $1 million for the previous pool replacement.
According to the city about $825,000 of that money is available for the current plan.
