Oct. 9, 2012 — The Lassen County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to approve a pool committee at its meeting today, Tuesday, Oct. 9.

The committee will discuss several site options to construct a new community swimming pool. Possible sites for consideration include property on Sierra Street, the Lassen Union High School District (LUHSD) or at Lassen Community College (LCC). Another option is utilizing the site where Roosevelt Pool is on South Street, but renovating the actual facility is not an option.

During a Tuesday, Sept. 26 meeting of the Lassen County Board of Supervisors, the board directed county administrative officer Martin Nichols to form a committee comprised of representatives from public agencies.

The committee will bring back a recommendation to the board in January.

According to supervisor Jim Chapman, after the board has its debate about the site, it can start the next phase of designing a facility and then start running numbers as to what the costs are going to be for facility operations.

Nichols had sent letters to local agencies including the Susanville City Council, and the LCC, LUHSD and Susanville School District (SSD) boards.

In his letter, Nichols outlined the pool concept which includes a multi-use covered pool in or near Susanville. He wrote construction costs will be funded by the county and other partner contributions. No voter funding will be requested for the construction of the project, but voters will approve a special tax fund for the operation and maintenance of the new facility. The county will analyze the hazardous materials at the old Roosevelt Pool site and develop a demolition cost estimate. SSD currently owns the property.

Once the details and money numbers are in, Chapman said the board can then decide if it wants to wait until the November 2014 election or see if it wants to hold a special election.

The responses Martin received from the community agencies voiced support for the pool concept but said money was not available to fund such a project. Agency representatives did offer assistance in other ways.

In a letter from LUHSD Interim Superintendent Roy Casey, he said, “During these tough fiscal times, it is unlikely that our district would be able to directly give a cash contribution towards this project. However, if we were to become part of a (Joint Powers Agreement) JPA, we may be able to access special monies from state grant programs. Additionally, our district would consider the option of building the facility on district property, with the land being our contribution to the project.”

City Administrator Jared Hancock said in a letter, “The city council is unanimous in its support of the concept, and is enthusiastic about the opportunity to partner with the county to finalize a project scope and location. The city does not currently have a dedicated funding source for pool construction but is willing to work with the county to help identify and secure funding sources for the project in addition to assessing the usefulness of other city resources including water, geothermal and city-owned properties.”

In his letter, Dr. Marlon Hall recommended LCC for a pool location.

He said, “This would be instrumental in bringing the community back to Lassen Community College. Also, Lassen Community College is in the process of starting a new major in PE/Kinesiology. In this major, course in aquatics would be a part of the course. Student workers could be hired as lifeguards and assistants to assist with the day-to-day operations.”

SSD Superintendent Jason Waddell said, “As the property owners, the district is willing to donate the old pool site and will cooperate fully to see the remediation of the facilities taking place as soon as possible. Unfortunately we are not in the financial situation to be able to support monetarily, however, the district is willing to provide any support we can offer.”

Theresa Nagel also submitted a letter with an attachment of a pool design and funding concept she said was submitted to the county by her husband more than a year ago.

In her letter, Nagel said the plan wasn’t given much credence but it is similar to what Nichols had outlined.