EVERETT — In a couple years, Everett might have a second publicly available swimming pool. The city of Everett and the YMCA of Snohomish County are considering a partnership that would have the city help fund a new swimming pool.
The YMCA is developing a new Everett facility and headquarters on property it acquired from the Everett School District in 2015.
The Y has approached the city about three possible scenarios in which they would share costs on developing a neighborhood park on the southernmost portion on the 8.1-acre lot at 4710 Colby Avenue.
The more expensive options include creating a larger swimming pool than the YMCA would otherwise build, so that the community would be able to use it.
Paul Kaftanski, the city’s executive director with oversight of parks, told the city council on Wednesday that the YMCA was on a deadline so it could move forward with developing the lot.
“The Y wants to have this facility open in 2019. To keep their development timeline, it needs to have some certainty by early summer at the latest,” Kaftanski said.
The YMCA is in the middle of a campaign to raise money for the new location. It’s raised about $6.6 million out of a target of $12 million-$15 million, CEO Scott Washburn said.
Having a pool was always part of the plan, Washburn said, but the question is how large and under what terms nonmembers would be able to use it.
The plan would be to raise the rest of the money in the capital campaign over the next year, break ground in mid-2018 and open in the fall of 2019.
All of that rests on a final plan, and to what extent the city would share in the costs.
“We have 45 days to work with a lot of moving parts at this point,” Washburn said.
Under three scenarios Kaftanski presented to the city council, the smallest would be just the neighborhood park without a pool, for which the city would pay $1.9 million. A basic pool with a few public amenities would cost the city $4.7 million, or the city could contribute $6.4 million for a more expanded aquatic center that could include things like spray areas and hot-water pools.
Those costs include putting in curbs, gutters and sidewalks and maintaining the property, and the YMCA also wants to put in a connection to the Interurban Trail across Colby Avenue, Kaftanski said. The city would lease the property from the YMCA for free under these scenarios.
The money would come out of the the city’s parks fund, which means that depending on which scenario is adopted, parks projects scheduled in the current six-year plan might be delayed for longer or reduced in scope, Kaftanski said.
Most of those projects are related to ongoing operations and maintenance because the city hasn’t had the money to build new parks, he said.
“The current emphasis is on repair and renovation on existing assets and less of an emphasis on new park development,” Kaftanski said.
The City Council asked for more information about the proposal, but members were cautiously optimistic.
“Is it worth it to the city to buy a pool of this quality for the citizens to use for $4.5 million dollars? It seems to be a good deal,” said councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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