The City Council this week voted to approve a service contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates for the Sooner Pool Recreational Expansion Project, a discretionary project approved by voters in the 2013 Half-Cent Sales Tax Extension Election.
“While the project was only conceptual in nature at the time of the election, the intent was to add more robust recreational amenities to the existing swimming pool,” said Director of Engineering Micah Siemers.
Options for the pool, which is currently a lap pool with a diving board at one end, at the time included the addition of a lazy river, water slides, water play features, additional pool deck, lighting and shade structures along with other support structures as needed.
Available funding for the project, however, has not quite materialized as planned, Siemers said.
“In 2013 the original planned budget for this project was $3,750,000. Unfortunately, the actual sales tax revenues over the past seven years did not meet the projections made in 2013. Based on the reduced revenue, the approved Fiscal Year 2020-21 budget for this project is $2,550,000”, he said, noting there is an additional $200,000 that will be available to resurface Sooner Pool that was approved in the recent 2020 Half-Cent Sales Tax Extension Election.
“Those funds will be scheduled for availability at the beginning of next fiscal year which would align with the possible construction start date. There is also $106,472 remaining in the 2012 General Obligation Bond Fund that was also earmarked for resurfacing Sooner Pool but was never sufficient to facilitate that work.”
All in all, Siemers said, the total available budget for the project, including the recreational amenities and resurfacing the existing pool, is $2,856,472.
The contract approved Monday in the amount of $255,000, includes preliminary planning to finalize a concept that will be within the modified available budget, field data collection to facilitate design, design and construction documents, bidding assistance and construction services.