Warrenton citizens will have a chance to question city officials about plans for a new aquatic center during a public town hall meeting Thursday, July 27. During the open house-style meeting, elected …
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Aquatic center public meeting July 27
Posted
By Adam Rollins, Record Staff Writer
Warrenton citizens will have a chance to question city officials about plans for a new aquatic center during a public town hall meeting Thursday, July 27.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. It will be held at Warrenton City Hall from 5 to 8 p.m. Warrenton Director of Operations Terri Thorn said the 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.The exact ballot language presented to voters Aug. 8 will be, “Shall the City of Warrenton, Missouri, issue its general obligation bonds in the amount of $7,500,000 for the purpose of constructing, furnishing and equipping park, recreation and aquatic facilities and any related utility and roadway improvements?”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 released by the city this month include a 7,000-square-foot indoor pool and a nearly 2,400-square-foot outdoor pool. A large slide, children’s area, lazy river, lap lanes and outdoor diving are all on the list of proposed features.The indoor pool area will be open year-round.Construction on the aquatic center is planned to begin this fall and be finished in about a year. Work has already begun to do rough grading for roads, parking and the facility’s footprint.No tax increaseThe bond issue voters are being asked to approve is an authorization for Warrenton to sell what are called general obligation bonds. These bonds are a type of promissory note, a pledge to bond holders that the city guarantees to repay a certain amount of its debt to them every year.Such a bond issue needs to be approved by voters, in this case with a two-thirds majority, because it includes permission for the city to increase property taxes as necessary to pay its debt on the bonds. The guarantee that Warrenton’s debt payments are backed by a dedicated tax base allows the city to get a lower interest rate on the debt, making the overall project cost less.However, city leaders have stressed that they do not plan to raise any taxes to pay for the facility.Instead, Warrenton will pay off the aquatic center using an existing tax fund dedicated to capital improvements. That’s the same funding that paid for Warrenton’s current pool, and for the city’s athletic complex, which will be paid off next year, Thorn said.Once the athletic complex is debt-free, the capital improvement funding will go toward the new aquatic center and surrounding park, she said.Pool deterioratingWarrenton’s municipal pool was built in 1989. Thorn said the facility has begun to show its age: Pool pumps and chemical delivery systems are past their typical lifespan. Cracks in the concrete have needed to be patched to prevent the pool from leaking water.“Every year when we start (the pool) up, we hold our breath, hoping that everything works,” Thorn said. “There will come a point, if the (current) pool were to continue, that those major systems ... would have to be replaced. It would be very costly.”Warrenton also has grown significantly since that pool facility was built. The city’s population at the time of the 1990 United States Census was about 3,600 people. Current estimates put that number at more than double, with over 8,000 people living in Warrenton today, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.New green spaceThe new aquatic center will be situated within a 39-acre property being developed as a new city park. The city has a variety of other amenities planned for the park, including an outdoor amphitheater, fishing dock, disc golf course, walking trails and a dog park.Warrenton purchased the land for the new park for $285,000 in 2015. The property is in a wooded area on the far side of a vacant field along Highway 47, across from Warrior Avenue and the Warrenton Scenic Regional Library.Warrior Avenue will be extended to enter the southeast corner of the park.The city already has money budgeted for work on the park’s walking trails and dog park, Assistant Director of Operations Brandie Walters previously told The Record.Other park amenities will be installed year by year as the city’s budget allows, she said.
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. Submitted image.
