In this issue of POOL FACTS…
EiE would like to point out four facts regarding the proposed plan for a new pool at Patton Park that are indisputable.
These are:
1. At the Hamilton Special Town Meeting voters defeated a motion to appropriate $2.5 million for a pool. Yes, it was a very close vote, but the motion failed.
2. Mistakes continue to be made in developing a plan for the new pool. When Weston & Sampson drafted plans to be used for Requests For Proposals (RFPs), they were drawn showing the new septic field on land not owned by the Town. The plan showed the pool project overlapping onto land owned by the Myopia Schooling Field Trust. This “error“ was discovered through research and the efforts of the Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC). The plans had to be redrawn.
3. Assurances were made at the Special Town Meeting that the $2.5 million figure cited for the new pool was "certain to be higher" than actual bids, which had not yet been requested. Now three bids from the RFPs have come in and they all are significantly HIGHER than $2.5 million. The lowest bid for essentially the same plan shown at the Special Town Meeting is $3.1 million.
4. As a result, cuts in the scope of the pool plan are being considered. The Joint Recreation Committee will seek, through "value engineering", to reduce the costs to a level acceptable to voters. To do so may require elimination of expensive parts of the plan… such as the zero-entry portion, the concession stand, the overall size of the decking, and reduction in the size of the bath-house(s).
At the Special Town Meeting EiE had asked for consideration of three items: (1) The size & scope of the pool, (2) A reduction in the overall cost, and (3) Wenham's participation and private fundraising efforts.
There has been little in the way of progress on any of these three items. To the contrary, we have seen bids come back that are 25% - 40% higher than we were told to expect at the STM. As recently as 10 days ago it was suggested we could expect bids in the realm of $1.9 million by Hamilton's Finance Director.
As those of you that have closely monitored this project know, things change almost daily with the plans and projected costs of this venture. Expect more changes. And when that happens we will continue to provide you with the facts.
In the meantime, EiE continues to support replacement of the pool under the same guidelines we expressed at the fall Special Town Meeting.
Respectfully submitted by:
Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility
aka: Enough Is Enough
