Warrenton citizens will have a chance to quiz city officials about plans for a new aquatic center during a public town hall meeting Thursday, July 27.Warrenton City Hall will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday. During the open house-style meeting, elected officials and administrators will be present to answer questions about the planned 16,000-square-foot facility. The meeting comes about two weeks before an Aug. 8 citywide vote on a $7.5 million bond issue to pay for the new facility.Warrenton Director of Operations Terri Thorn said the current cost estimate for the aquatic center is $5.3 million.The actual amount borrowed by the city is likely to be closer to that estimate than to the $7.5 million maximum being put before voters.Importantly, plans for the aquatic center are moving forward whether the bond issue passes or not, Thorn said. The city just needs approval to get the lowest-cost financing.“By passing the bond issue, it is saving taxpayer dollars for debt service. That’s really it — it’s cheaper financing,” Thorn said. The city could use a different type of financing that doesn’t need voter approval, but that would come with a higher interest rate and be more expensive over the long term, she explained.The aquatic center will be built within Warrenton’s newest park, just west of Warrior Avenue and Highway 47.Preliminary plans for the facility, which include indoor and outdoor pool areas, will be available for viewing at the public meeting. Construction on the aquatic center is planned to begin this fall and be finished in about a year.The bond issue voters are being asked to approve would authorize the city to sell general obligation bonds, a type of promissory note pledging to repay bond holders using city tax funding. Voter approval would give the city permission to increase property taxes to pay its debt on the bonds.However, city leaders have stressed there will be no tax increase. The city will pay off the aquatic center debt using existing tax funding that will be freed after the Warrenton Athletic Complex is paid off next year, Thorn said.For more details about plans for the aquatic center and the condition of Warrenton's current municipal pool, read the July 27 print edition of the Warren County Record.

A digital rendering shows the planned exterior of an aquatic center in Warrenton expected to be built starting this fall. City officials will hold a town hall meeting July 27 to answer questions about the facility.

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