Wellington North has approved a recommendation to pump another $44,500 into the Mount Forest Lions pool.
On March 7, councillors agreed Acapulco Pools should be contracted to remove the old filter/pumps and install Nemota filters, strainer, pump and chemical feeder at the Mount Forest Lion Roy Grant pool at a cost of $44,503 plus HST.
In reviewing the recreation minutes, chairman Sherry Burke asked council to stress the importance of the recommendation for the pool.
She said a quick turnaround is needed because certain parts require six to eight weeks for shipping, “and we are still hoping to have the pool open at the same time in the spring as we have previously.”
Treasurer John Jeffrey pointed out since council is still in budget deliberations and approval of the project would in fact be a pre-approval of that portion of the budget.
Jeffrey believes there are sufficient funds in the budget to cover that cost.
Councillor Dan Yake said he realizes there are a number of issues affecting the pool in Mount Forest, but he wanted to know how long the repairs would extend its life.
“Is the life expectancy increased, or are we still looking at major costs in the near future … or is this just a Band-Aid?” Yake asked.
Mayor Ray Tout explained the pool equipment is about 50 years old.
“From what we’ve learned, the filters and pumps are all 50 years old, and a lot of piping underneath is just getting plain rotten,” Tout said.
He said there are minimum requirements for pumping water flow capacity and, “Those are not being met.”
Tout hopes this fix will extend the pool life by three to five years, and he wants to look at putting a replacement pool into the township’s long-term capital plan.
“We simply can’t afford a new pool at this pool. It would be close to a million dollars.”
Tout added, “without these repairs, the pool would have to be shut down.”
Yake said he was looking for clarification as to how long the pool life would extend.
Tout said one of the positives on this particular choice of replacement is the equipment can be extracted and put into the new pool. “It’s reusable – it’s not a one shot.”
Yake asked “Will this get us five years or ten years?”
“Probably five,” Tout responded. “We would love ten, but realistically it’s probably five.”
