HomeMy WebLinkAbout121123 email Objection to Port Townsend pool proposal and taxALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Good morning. As county residents and small business owners my wife and
I feel we must voice our objections to the proposed new Port Townsend
pool facility and associated tax on a number of fronts.
First, the project has not been well planned or budgeted. As per the
analysis by Mark Grant of Grant Steel Buildings and Concrete Systems (1)
the project is under budgeted, with forecast significant change orders,
cost overruns, hazardous materials abatement costs, and a lack of a
stormwater management plan. The latter in particular is a horrendous
oversight given the local climactic conditions, and the need for a
detailed infiltration management plan is obvious to anyone who has dealt
with construction in the county. As residents who completed our new
home/business construction eighteen months ago we are extremely familiar
with these requirements and it seems to us that the lack of such a
detailed plan is a fatal flaw in the pool plan.
Second, the proposed county tax for the facility is ludicrous given the
current usage numbers. According to Mountain View pool usage data
reported by the Port Townsend Free press and obtained from the YMCA's
annual report (2) an average of only 212 individual users used the pool
each month in 2022. 174 of those were Port Townsend residents and only
34 were county residents outside the pool. These numbers represent less
than 2% of the Port Townsend population and 0.6% of the the 33,000 total
residents of Jefferson County. This data indicates that the current pool
is really a city pool, not a regional pool, and a poorly used one at
that. Anecdotally it is difficult if not impossible to find anyone
outside the environs of Port Townsend who has ever used the present
pool. To impose a county wide tax to fund this debacle would be an
egregious act given that so few county residents use the current
facility, and even a municipal tax would be outrageous given that less
than 2% of the city population use the current pool facilities.
Third, to claim the proposed facility is "regional" when it is sited in
Port Townsend and will primarily serve an incredibly small percentage of
the county population is public relations at its worst. Using the
published population numbers for the city and the county yields that
approximately 0.15% of the county population living outside the city
used the existing Mountain View Pool in fiscal year 2022. To spin this
project as a regional benefit boggles the imagination given that number.
This facility is a city pool at best in its current location. If it is
to be a true facility for use by county residents it should be located
in Chimacum or further south in order to be more centrally accessible to
county residents. Placing it in Port Townsend and making county
residents pay for it through a tax levy is a slap in the face to those
people living outside the city who will never use the facility because
of its location.
Lastly, a published report indicates that the cost of the special
election required to approve the county tax question will be
approximately $110,000 (3). Given the overwhelming and vocal opposition
to the pool going to even this length to poll the public mood seems
extravagant.
The population of Jefferson County is speaking, and with a loud voice
they are proclaiming they do not see the need for a new pool given the
abysmally low usage rate of the current facility, do not want such a
pool located in Port Townsend if it is truly to be a "county" facility,
and do not want to pay additional taxes to support such a facility given
its low use and location which is focused almost entirely on Port
Townsend users. We add our voice to that chorus and urge the County
Commissioners and the City Council to abandon this poorly planned and
unnecessary endeavor. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Adrian Smith & Tracy Clark
Paradise Heights Bed & Breakfast
Port Ludlow, WA
References
(1)
https://www.porttownsendfreepress.com/2023/12/09/10-5-million-cost-overruns-and-delays-projected-for-pt-aquatic-center-a-professional-analysis/?fbclid=IwAR3wREOrNK7j9KJHRiaNQktptz63eOy-ak6rKA4fKQHfa8
pGS8ga9Ch_UTU
(2)
https://www.porttownsendfreepress.com/2023/08/05/mountain-view-pool-by-the-numbers/
(3)
https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/port-townsend-city-council-oks-pool-proposals/
acy@paradiseheightsbnb.com