PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County commissioners are seeking volunteers for a new task force to consider alternative locations and construction options for a new pool facility somewhere in the county.
At their meeting Monday, commissioners identified criteria for potential members of the eight-person task force which is being created after county residents — including Commissioners Heidi Eisenhour and Greg Brotherton — pushed back on plans from the City of Port Townsend to build a roughly $37 million facility within city limits.
The task force will be made up of two members from each county commissioner district and two at-large members who reside outside Port Townsend appointed by the Jefferson Aquatics Coalition.
According to meeting documents, the task force will report on the feasibility of building a pool in the Port Hadlock Sewer District and the viability of using alternative construction methods such as prefabricated buildings, among other items.
According to Brotherton, potential members should “want to find a way to get to a pool.”
“At this point we’re not looking for Pollyannas, but we are looking for people who want to critically approach this very challenging work with an eye on the goal,” Brotherton said.
The task force will meet twice a month starting in April with an expected deadline of June 30.
The exact language for member criteria will be drafted by Brotherton and presented at the board’s meeting on Monday, March 11.
The task force will make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners about where a new pool facility could be located in the county and what design and construction methods could be used to lower costs.
The current pool facility at Mountain View Commons in Port Townsend is aging and city officials have said it needs replacement.
Last year the city began the Healthier Together Initiative with several other local organizations including the county, Jefferson Healthcare and the Port Townsend School District to look at rebuilding the facility.
A steering committee, which included District 1 Commissioner Kate Dean, recommended a new and expanded facility be built at the Mountain View Commons site and that a county-wide taxing district be created to help pay for the center, projected to cost roughly $37 million in construction and $1.27 in annual operating costs.
In public meetings, several community members have questioned the project’s cost and scope, arguing for a less ambitious and less costly facility.
Residents have also been critical of the proposal to create a Public Facilities District, or PFD, which would then enact a county-wide tax to help pay for the pool.
The task force also will look at potentially adding other projects to be funded by the PFD.
In addition to public members, the task force will include existing Healthier Together Steering Committee members; Port Townsend Director of Parks and Recreation Strategy Carrie Hite and County Administrator Mark McCauley.
In public comment, callers criticized the proposed selection criteria for being too biased toward those who wanted to see a new pool facility and seemed to exclude those opposed to the project entirely.
“We are looking for a path that the majority of the county is going to support, If we don’t think that we can bring a project forward that will achieve that victory in a vote of the people then we won’t do it,” Brotherton said in response. “We don’t want to throw good money after bad.”
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
