CHICKASHA – Initial repairs on the municipal swimming pool, a charter school permit, and land for the new water treatment plant were discussed recently by the City Council.
• A $61,370 initial payment was approved for repairs underway at the swimming pool in Shannon Springs Park. Primarily the invoice was for trenching around the exterior of the pool to accommodate new water lines, and removal of old equipment “in preparation for installation of new material,” Public Works Director Spencer Winzenried said.
The pool was constructed 40 years ago and “has multiple leaks,” Winzenried noted. The pool has been losing 4 inches of water, “about 15,000 gallons,” each day from evaporation and leaks, he said. “A dozen leaks were found during a pressure check.” The 6,132 square-foot pool holds 236,809 gallons of water.
The council awarded a contract of up to $460,000 to Sunbelt Pools of Edmond, the lone bidder, to replace the pool’s filtration system, filter gauges, a couple of pumps, perimeter inlet piping, and all electric panels and wiring in the filter room.
The pool “will have the same shell, but everything behind the scenes will be new,” Winzenried said.
A completely new swimming pool would cost $12 million to $15 million “and would last 40 years,” Winzenried said. For “a complete refurb, you’re looking at spending $5 million to $7 million and it would last for 20 to 30 years.” The repairs performed by Sunbelt Pools should extend the life of the pool for “seven to 10 more years,” he said.
• The council also approved a special use permit that allows Epic Charter Schools to establish a “microsite dedicated to educational purposes” at 2439 and 2449 Ponderosa Drive.
“This facility will be used to support our instructional and administrative functions, allowing us to better serve students, parents, and educators in the community,” wrote Jason Richardson, director of construction management and development.
Classrooms have been “set up” and “it was determined” during inspections that “small numbers of students will be onsite on any given day to test or have tutoring or group study sessions,” Community Development Director Rachel Bernish wrote.
• During a closed-door executive session Jan. 21, the council discussed “legal proceedings relating to acquisition of land” where the new water treatment plant will be built. Afterward the council took no action on the matter.
An update on the status of the water plant construction project is slated for the council’s Feb. 17 meeting, according to City Manager Jim Crosby.
Freese and Nichols, an Oklahoma City civil engineering firm, “wants to do the presentation to the council at their second meeting in February,” Crosby told Southwest Ledger on Jan. 8. “They felt they would be at the right position in their planning that would best present what the plant will look like and how it will function.”
• Plans to consider the Onward Chickasha 2050 comprehensive plan were postponed Jan. 21 to a council meeting in February. Two members were absent “and I think the entire council needs to be present to act on this,” Mayor Zach Grayson said.