The Grinch that Stole Summer

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The March 24th BOC workshop began with discussions on repairs necessary to open the County pool this summer. Everyone couldn’t help but wonder if the rising costs and poor shape of our economy was going to have a “Grinch” effect on the pool opening this year. A donation of $70,000 was generously offered to Gilmer County by The Harrison Foundation to fund the pool repairs. There was a check presentation planned for the 24th but in lieu of the figures that came in from the RFP the Board wanted to discuss before proceeding. The repair project was put out for public bid at the beginning of March and the lowest bid came in from Sunbelt Pools of Georgia at $86,981.57. The contract could exceed this amount because of an unknown area behind a large crack in the pool. The concern is that when they open up the crack they may find where water has washed out a cavity that will need to be filled. Jim Smith said “it’s an old pool and some people are leery of it because we did require in the specifications; statements of warranty, materials, equipment, and their workmanship.” A previous bidder that was closer to the amount of the donation did not come forward with a bid in the last request for proposal.

BOC Workshop 3-24 Part 1 from Fetch on Vimeo.

This means the County would need to close the gap of approximately $17,000.00 between the donation and the actual cost. This could be handled by adjusting the budget or raising funds by our local citizens. The ball fields may be one area the county could save some money since A.S. Dover had advised on the possibility of the county accepting the ball fields as they are and allowing the County to use its own forces to complete the project.

Larry Lykins told the group “the decision needs to be made today if we are going to have the pool open in time for swimming this year.” He further stated he would do all he could in an effort to raise the needed funds. Will Beattie told us “it comes down to one simple question-if we collectively, as a governmental unit, find it in an ordinance to have a County pool, we can make it happen.”

BOC Workshop 3-24 Part 2 from Fetch on Vimeo.

The question of “if not now – when?” on opening the pool was posed to the Chairman, to which Mr. Sanford responded “when our financial picture turned around.” Danny Hall voiced his concern for the likelihood it would ever reopen if the repairs were not done this year. Will Beattie expressed that if the County doesn’t commit to the repairs now, the deficit would only grow larger. Also the county could run the risk of losing the donation if it chose not to move forward at this time.

BOC Workshop 3-24 Part 3 from Fetch on Vimeo.

Will Beattie suggested proposing a contingency with the pool company requesting the major crack be handled first to ensure it wasn’t going to be an extraordinary expense. David Clark, the County Attorney, explained the pool company would have to be awarded the contract first and then agree to handle the repair in that manner. Also there would have to be some method to determine what would have been earned by the pool company should the work be halted. Jim Smith suggested the possibility of a 2 step notice to proceed, with the 1st step being to investigate the lines and the major crack to determine extent of damage. Mr. Clark suggested that the County could hire an engineer to investigate the crack before proceeding with the contract. Also the County could proceed with awarding the contract and halt the work at different points of completion if needed.

BOC Workshop 3-24 Part 4 from Fetch on Vimeo.

BOC Workshop 3-24 Part 5 from Fetch on Vimeo.

The discussion led to an agreement to move forward with the pool repair since the consensus was that prolonging the repairs will only increase costs. Plus the County did not want to lose the offer of the donation. Hopefully the “major crack” will not turn out to be too expensive and our Gilmer County kids can enjoy the pool this summer. Fetchyournews.com will let you know if there will be any plans for fund raising to assist with the cost of the pool repairs.

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