It would be a big help to get the Parks Board of Commissions to formally support adding pool planning to the City budget this fall.  We need a Board Hearing on pools to do this.  The letter below just went out to the Commissioners. 

[Update:  The Parks Board has graciously granted us time to brief them on August 28, along with Kathy Whitman, Director of Aquatics for Parks.  More on this in a future post.]

On behalf of the Project Seattle Pools team, I would like to request that the Parks Board hold a hearing in early September on the need for a “Comprehensive Aquatics Plan” for Seattle.

This is an excellent time for the Parks Board to consider the state of aquatics facilities in the city, given the deficits identified in the preliminary outdoor pool study that was completed by the Parks Department this spring. Furthermore, the review of potential projects for the upcoming Parks levy revealed such a lack of well-costed plans for pool improvements that no funds of any kind for swimming pools will be included in this levy (including UV treatment to kill cryptosporidium). You can see our modest, failed proposals for the levy here and our testimony on pool planning at the last levy hearing here.

We would like Parks to take a comprehensive urban planning approach to pools, just like it did for skate parks. As a result of the hearing, we would like the Parks Board to vote to recommend that funding be included in the City budget this fall for a “Comprehensive Aquatics Strategic Plan” for Seattle.

A Comprehensive Aquatics Plan would address how our city can cost-effectively meet its citizen’s needs for swimming facilities. Its recommendations may include new facilities and/or retrofitting existing facilities to meet evolving needs (e.g., slides for teens or warm water therapy pools for seniors). The strategic plan would provide a blueprint for improving our pool system as funds become available through a future levy or fundraising efforts.

The levy committee just delivered a recommendation to the Council that the next levy include pools. We need to start doing planning today such that we have well-costed, well-thought-out proposals to take to the voters when that levy takes shape. And to take advantage of private fundraising possibilities.

Thank you for considering this request for a Parks Board hearing in early September, in time for City budget deliberations.