WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY … The Delta Pool, seen here, was the subject of intense public comments during Monday’s meeting of the Delta Village Council, both in favor of and opposed to its reconstruction.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
A pair of public commenters with extreme opposite views on the future of the Delta pool drew discussion from the Delta Village Council as well as village officials at the council’s meeting Monday evening.
Jay LeFevre peppered council with questions and hypotheticals surrounding the pool, supporting efforts to repair or demolish and rebuild the structure but questioning the taxes that have been collected for the facility but not used.
He called the fact that the tax continued to be collected despite the pool only being open one season over the five-year levy “disconcerting and troublesome.”
Councilor Robert Shirer later pointed out that, while the taxes had indeed been collected, they were still available for use for the demolition and rebuilding of the facility.
He said the pool fund currently has a balance of $172,845. Comparatively, the one estimate received for the demolition came in at approximately $70,000.
The estimate to repair the pool (not including the pool house) is nearly $900,000, one of the main reasons the park board voted 3-1 to recommend demolition and potentially construction of a new facility.
Despite the costs involved LeFevre was strongly in favor of both rebuilding the facility and, if the new facility was in a different location, construction of new amenities at the former pool property.
Delta resident Kyle Comers took the polar opposite view, arguing the village should abandon any nonessential efforts like the pool facility as well as building parking lots and retaining walls or offering businesses tax abatements in efforts to draw new investment.
“You just won’t let this pool thing go, you just keep trying to find a way to build a new one,” Comers said.
“You decided to push the development of the village through abatements, which by definition leaves us not as much money, but in 10 or 15 years there’ll be money to build a pool.”
“But right now, just stop trying to raise taxes and do stuff that’s not needed. I understand it’s a nice thing to have, but I don’t think it’s a needed thing.”
In his comments, which followed Comers’, Shirer also pointed out that the village had just received the bulk if not all of the fill material needed to fill the hole after the pool’s demolition for free, which saved the village roughly $32,000.
“We are trying to be as fiscally responsible with those [pool fund] dollars as we can, they can only be spent on pool-related things,” Shirer said.
OTHER BUSINESS
Police Chief Robert Austin shared a new crime statistics report with the council that will be updated on an ongoing basis.
The report includes some new statistics which have only been tracked since late last year, such as traffic warnings.
Most of the numbers were similar on a year-to-date basis compared to last year, with declines seen in loose animals, business and residential alarms, and trespassing, and increases in lost/found property, zoning violations, 911 hang-ups, and calls for information.
Delta resident Beth McSurley shared her concerns regarding a dead tree on a commercial property at the intersection of 20A and Pelton Drive which threatens several power lines from a nearby utility pole if and when the tree should fall.
Village Administrator Andy Glenn and Law Director Kevin Heban advised her on next steps and agreed to look further into the issue.
The council approved on final reading supplemental appropriations for the current fiscal year, ending Dec. 31.
Jesse can be reached at jesse@thevillagereporter.com