Pool Contract Still Sticking in Council's Side

Two enthusiastic Menlo Park swim clubs have been given two weeks to solve their deep differences over the city's Burgess and Belle Haven pools, or the will have to step in and solve the matter for them.

That was the stern, yet positive, message that Mayor Rich Cline sent during the City Council's Tuesday night meeting to the current Burgess pool operator, Menlo Swim and Sport, and SOLO Aquatics, a competitive swim club that's been at odds with the private operator.

"I will urge both groups to solve this out of City Council," Cline said at the end of the nearly two-hour hearing. "This is not where you want to be in two weeks."

Pool access, primarily during peak evening hours, turned the once-allied groups into opponents late last year after the City approved a five-year contract with Menlo Park Swim and Sport that included management of both the Belle Haven and Burgess Pools. The City sent out more than a dozen proposals to pool operators and only two--SOLO and Menlo Swim and Sport--responded before the Oct. 15 deadline last year. SOLO lost the bid, and has been organized and vocal ever since.

SOLO's Board President, Steve Zanolli, told the council the two sides should be able to agree on more access without hurting business.

"We feel that can be accommodated without threatening the current operator's profits," Zanolli told the council Tuesday night.

According to a City staff report, the break-even cost per lane hour is $15. SOLO has paid $8 per lane hour for the past three years, and uses the pool for roughly 50 hours per week, the report claims. As a competitive swim club with close to 200 members, SOLO needs more access, Zanolli told the council. 

Anything more than SOLO's current usage would require a city subsidy to the current operator. However, one revenue option that several council members mentioned was higher rates for non-residents. Currently, Menlo Swim and Swim and Sport charges $40 per month to Menlo Park residents and $45 per month to non-residents.

The two sides have been in talks for the past two weeks and the current operator, Tim Sheeper from Menlo Swim and Sport, told the council that there is still hope for an agreement. The city granted him the contract in 2006.

"We are closer to resolving our issues than we ever have been before," Sheeper said.

The City Council will revisit the issue, and possibly vote on it, in two weeks.