(9/28/2019: CAMAS, WA)
In June of this year, the Camas City Council voted unanimously to ask taxpayers to approve a 20 year, $78M bond- $72M of which is earmarked for the Camas Aquatic Center, and $6M for sports fields upgrades. They decided the “Go Big” option was the best plan for the community, which included a 78,000 square foot aquatic facility and a 50-meter, Olympic size competition pool located next to Lacamas Lake. They justified their $72M pool budget with numbers that were based on that size building that included that type of competition pool.
But in a quietly released update on the City-funded Camas Aquatic Center website this week, the 50-meter Olympic size pool with diving depth has suddenly been eliminated from the plan altogether. The new update reads:
“Lap Swimming Pool – This pool will measure 25 meters long by 25 yards wide (8 lanes), which serves the needs of our local high school athletes and our masters swimmers. Although a 50-meter format was considered, the significantly higher costs are considered prohibitive.”
Some opponents of the $78M pool bond might actually welcome this new development, because it should translate into large reductions in overall construction costs. But remarkably, it doesn't. The total construction budget remains exactly the same, despite the fact that the single largest expense component of the plan has just been eliminated.
Lets compare last week's budget, to this week's updated budget:
Last week's Budget:
Community Aquatics Center
Building: $37.2 million
On-site Improvements: $6.4 million
Off-site Improvements: $5.8 million
Design, Permitting, Furnishings and Fitness Equipment and Contingency: $19 million
Sales Tax: $3.6 million
Subtotal: $72 million
This week's Budget:
Community Aquatics Center
Building: $37.2 million (78,000 square feet)
On-site Development: $6.4 million
Sales Tax: $3.6 million
Soft Costs: $13 million (design, permits, equipment, and furniture)
Construction Contingency: $6 million
Off-site Development:
Heritage Park Parking Expansion: $1.3 million
Lake Road Improvements: $2.4 million
NW Lake Road and NW Sierra Street Traffic Signal: $2.1 million
Community Aquatics Center Total Costs: $72 million
How does the City dramatically reduce the proposed facility value by eliminating the largest single expense line (50-meter pool), but not reduce the building size, the building cost, or the overall $72M price tag? It would be like buying a new $72,000 Mercedes, but when you went to pick it up, they gave you a $22,000 VW Beetle instead. They're both German, you know.
This is the inherent problem of borrowing $78M before you have a final plan. Before you have completed site surveys. Before you have considered the views of the majority of taxpayers. Before you have even finalized what you want inside the building. Before you have developed an operational budget, a feasibility study, or any firm financial expenditure calculations. Before you've studied the impact on other local fitness related businesses, and the already overburdened Camas tax base as a whole.
Meanwhile, the shell game continues. At last week's State of the Community address, Camas City Mayor Shannon Turk said, “But I’m hoping that you trust me, that we are going to put together the best plan we have on the best site...We can talk about different locations and about different things happening (at the center) AFTER the ballot passes.”
If this most recent slight of hand is any indication of what's to come from a $78M blank check, let's hope the Camas Aquatic Center even has a swimming pool inside when all is said and done.
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