Cost of construction, annual operations, a concern
Third in a series on the city’s long-term plans.
Seal Beach officials are re-evaluating the long-planned community pool project. Staff and council members say they know the public wants a pool. However, officials say the city can’t afford the cost of construction, operations, possible debt financing or the lease of land from the U.S. Navy.
District Three Councilman Michael Varipapa has volunteered to participate in an ad hoc subcommittee that will look at the project.
Officials will be re-evaluating the location, as well as size and amenities, of a community swimming pool.
The project has been on the city agenda for years. For example, in 2008, the consulting firm Rowley International Inc., put the cost of refurbishing the pool at McGaugh at more than $3.7 million. (Cost estimates for the pool project have increased over the years.)
Participants in the Feb. 22, 2020, workshop cast 110 votes in favor of having a 50-meter swimming pool. At the time, the estimated cost of a 50-meter pool at more than $22 million. (That figure did not include lease payments or operating costs.) The plan until recently was to build the pool on land leased from Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach.
At the March 31, 2021 Strategic Planning Workshop, City Manager Jill Ingram recommended re-evaluating the project. Council unanimously agreed in a virtual “show of hands.” Ingram said the city needs to afford the pool for the long-term.
She could not recommend going forward with the project.
“It’s not only a matter of borrowing availability,” she said. “You have to be able to make those payments on an annual basis.”
She said operating costs would continue to increase as well.
Patrick Gallegos, assistant city manager and project manager for the community pool, said the city would go back to see if there are any alternatives for the project. “I believe we have basically scoured our options across Seal Beach in terms of what locations we could use,” Gallegos said.
According to Gallegos, the size and amenities of the project may be in question.
Finance Director Kelly Telford, who said the information was now a year old, said the Navy would charge the city for the lease of Weapons Station land would be based on the fair value of the property.
Telford also said she projected costs for a $22 million pool facility, an $18 million facility, and a $14 million facility.
Her estimates included gas, electric, and staffing costs.
Telford said it was important to note that operating costs by their nature increase every year.
According to Telford, the projected annual costs for a $14 million pool at the lower end would be approximately $1.4 million. For a $22 million facility at the high end, she said the annual operating costs be almost $2.2 million.
“Those sound like very thorough estimates,” said District Four Councilwoman Schelly Sustarsic.
The councilwoman said as a former parks commissioner, she supports a pool. Sustarsic said she knows the community wants a pool. Sustarsic said that at the same time, the city needs to be able to afford a pool.
District Two Councilman Thomas Moore said he appreciated the city wanting to re-evaluate its options, considering the expense. “I think that’s the right approach,” Moore said.
Councilman Varipapa said six-and-a-half years ago, when he was on council, it was a remodel, a reconfiguration of the existing McGaugh pool. He said the pool project morphed into various locations and options. He said the project went from a remodel to a “Cadillac” wish list.
Varipapa told strategic planning workshop participants he would like to be included in discussions about the project. He said the pool is one of the hottest topics in the district.
Mayor/District One Councilman Joe Kalmick agreed with Varipapa.
Kalmick said the pool was an amenity that the city has offered residents for more than 60 years.
“To simply walk away from that—” Kalmick paused. “—the city would be doing the residents and itself a disservice. He said the Navy wants full lease value for the property and it’s simply more than the city can afford.
Kalmick said he never got an answer on whether the city could work something out with Los Alamitos Unified School District. He asked staff about negotiation to rebuild a pool at McGaugh.
“It’s a question that’s been in mind,” Ingram said. She said she had heard that there are severe limitations on what can be done on the McGaugh site. She said that question would be addressed again.
