HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-01-17 Public Comment - P. Grigsby - Swim Center Bulkhead From: Paul Grigsby [pgrigsby@grigsbylaw.com]
Sent: Friday, September 01, 2017 10:45 AM
To: Elizabeth Hill; Chris Mehl; Mitchell Overton; Carson Taylor; Jeff Krauss; Cyndy Andrus; I-Ho Pomeroy;
Chuck Winn
Cc: Gary Tabor
Subject: Bulkhead Notice
Why wasn’t the public given this notice (attached) as the bulkhead project developed instead of two weeks after it
was implemented? The decision to make a major change to a public asset was essentially made behind closed-doors
with no notice to the public, and at the behest of one constituency. Did anyone consider a bulkhead that retracts
from the bottom of the pool and can be raised and lowered easily? I acknowledge and can see the potential merit of
a bulkhead. However the process by which it was done, and the apparent utter lack of consideration of other
alternatives, was egregious and, arguably, somewhat undemocratic.
More important—does the City of Bozeman intend to address its aquatic facilities before Bogert Pool completely
fails?
Paul Grigsby
Paul Grigsby
Paul Grigsby PLLC
Attorney at Law
1700 West Koch, Suite 6
Bozeman, Montana 59715
Tel: (406)587-9440
Fax: (406)219-2476
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August 31, 2017 Hello Swim Community, Thank you for all of the understanding and patience as we move forward with the implementation of the bulkhead. It is a big change and we really appreciate your willingness to jump in the pool and give it a try. There have been a lot of questions surrounding the bulkhead, so we wanted to provide you with some answers to the most popular questions. 1. How much was the City of Bozeman’s contribution to the bulkhead? The City contributed $25,000 towards the project. An additional $60,000 was donated through a large campaign in the community. Donors included Barracuda Swim Team, Hawks boosters, Chamber of Commerce Tourism Business Improvement District, and citizens of the community. 2. How long will the bulkhead be in the pool? Approximately 6.5 months. The bulkhead will be installed during our August closures. It will be removed from the pool mid-March. 3. What are the advantages of having the bulkhead? Although it seems counterintuitive, it is possible to program more people into two smaller pools than one big one. During the time frame that the bulkhead is in the pool there are 240 kids who use the pool during the week, about 150 on a daily basis. Having 16 lanes allows the Center to program for all of the youth swimmers as well as opens up more lanes to the public. It also provides additional space for swimming lessons. Many swimmers only see the pool at a particular time of the day. There are a lot of logistics that go into programming a pool when it is so heavily used. The swim center serves lap swimmers, water fitness participants, recreation swimmers, water joggers, swim lesson participants, high school PE classes for 1,162 freshmen and sophomore students throughout the school year from 7:30am-3:30pm, the Hawks high school swim team, Barracuda swim team, BMA swim team, Stingrays Synchronized swim team, Masters swim team, open boating, and scuba lessons. Throughout the year there are several other groups who use the pool as well such as youth recreation programs, scouts working towards badges, and the free adult swim lessons that the Masters opened up to the community. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to honor every request that comes to us. The staff recognizes the need to be able to program more lessons and water safety
classes for a community that spends so much of its time recreating in, on, or around water. We value the 50 meter pool and look forward to being able to return it to its 50 meter orientation year round upon the addition of a new aquatic facility. Until that time, we are faced with the challenge of efficiently programming and accommodating as many swimmers in the community as we can. We ask that you continue to give us patience as we work to serve all swimmers and as we fine tune the details. If you still have questions about the bulkhead or simply want to discuss its design and operation in more detail, we will be holding a community meeting Wednesday, September 20th from 6:30-8:00 pm at the Swim Center. The addition of the bulkhead has made it even clearer that we need more water space in order to effectively be able to serve the whole community’s desire for swim space. Finally, I would like to share the motto of the swim center and staff, Swim Happy! Please understand that if we could provide an ideal swim for everyone we would. The lifeguards spend hours training for emergencies. They are here because they care about keeping you safe. It is their number one priority. As a staff we have had the serious opportunity to save hundreds of lives! How amazing is that?!? So please remember when you see your lifeguards sitting in their chairs and watching the pool it is because they care about you and want you to have a safe and fun experience. Please come and enjoy the pool and we hope to see you on the 20th. Swim Happy! Elizabeth Hill Aquatics Manager, City of Bozeman