After several months of debate, a recommendation will be made to the Bismarck Park District Board by the Aquatics Committee on development of the Elks Pool site. But while a consensus was reached on the recommendaton, some committee members don't agree with the outcome.

The recommendation won't come at today's regular meeting at 4:15 p.m., but rather at a special meeting scheduled for 12:05 p.m. March 3. The special meeting also will take up the issue of a park district management proposal for the Missouri Valley fairgrounds.

Since forming in October, the Aquatics Committee met five times, the last on Feb. 3 when they came to a consensus on a concept for a water park featuring several attributes geared toward children age 10 and under. The biggest point of contention is what's not being included, a basin tub-type pool with a depth of six feet or more. What may have led to the agreement is the committee's desire for an indoor facility offering year-round swimming. The cost of a basin pool at the Elks could be transferred to building an indoor pool.

Steve Neu, park district director, said there is no formal plan in place for the Elks site, but he described it as a combination pool and splash park. The fan-shaped pool would begin at ground level and drop to no more than four feet. There are also plans for water slides and other toys along with public restroom facilities and playground equipment for the adjacent Custer Park. There may also be a small river feature encircling the water park, similar to that found at Raging Rivers in Mandan.

The cost is what kept a tub pool from being included in the plans, Neu said.

"We were trying to keep the project within $1.5 million," Neu said. "A basin pool needs a bigger space, since it's much deeper. Then you have to consider the operation costs and the staffing, too."

The district wants to maintain a reasonable level of operation costs, "and having to heat 400,000 gallons of water, such as we did with the old Elks Pool, is very expensive," Neu said. "Then there is the matter of staffing. While it will still be required to have a certified lifeguard in a certain area, the concept we're offering will reduce the number of lifeguards we need by half."

Last year the park district wouldn't have been able to come up with the 60 certified guards it normally employs for three pools, Neu said, and struggled to hire the 31 it had, enough for the two pools which were open, Hillside and Wachter.

Fourteen-year-old Emily Sakariassen is unhappy with the recommendation. She started a petition last summer, collecting more than a hundred names, asking the park district to ensure there would be a pool. "Steve Neu promised a swimming pool Š a regular pool. All I can say is, he is going back on his promise," she said.

Not everyone agreed that a basin-type pool should be left out of the Elks site. Judy Carlson, Pat Schwartz and Charlotte McLaughlin, all members of the committee, are dissatisfied with the recommendation.

McLaughlin admitted that she did agree to the recommendation.

"When it came to the February meeting, I was so discouraged by that time, that it was 'yeah, whatever,' " she said. "But I went home and thought about it, and the next morning I sent out an e-mail saying I had changed my mind. I think in the long run we'll wish we would have put in a basin."

McLaughlin is worried that the new pool won't meet the standards for people to take their Red Cross certification.

"This splash business is popular now, but it won't have any longevity," she said.

Schwartz also agreed that a consensus was reached, but now he wishes he'd taken the opportunity to speak up against the proposal. He said that at the December meeting, a six-foot basin pool was still part of the concept, and he asked what the cost would be to take it deeper.

"I was told they would look at the additional cost, and I thought that was reasonable, and I was satisfied at that point," Schwartz said. "I missed the January meeting, and when we met on Feb. 3, it was a wholly different concept. The tub was gone, leaving me to wonder Š what happened?"

Schwartz sent out e-mails to all the members of the committee and park board saying he didn't approve of what was being recommended and asking what happened to the original concept.

Carlson was disappointed that no actual vote of committee members was taken and didn't remember at what point a consensus was reached. She also missed the January meeting. "I missed a meeting, and it was like, 'wow, what happened?' I feel like they strung us along for four months."

Committee members Cody Strothman, Dennis Kemmesat and Jim Ballantyne have a different view of the recommendation and are happy with the results.

"Certainly some people wanted a few other things done with the Elks Pool site. But it was a majority decision on the final concept we came up with," Kemmesat said. "The inclusion of a basin pool pushed the price up significantly, and myself and others couldn't see the justification."

According to Ballantyne, the committee came to a 100 percent consensus. "I know there was some dissent after the meeting, with some of the committee members changing their opinion. I personally believe the committee came up with some very solid recommendations."

The maximum budget the committee was dealing with was about $1.5 million, and the estimate to add a basin pool took the cost to $2.1 million, not including the additional long-term operation and staffing costs, Ballantyne said. The demographics of the neighborhood indicate that there are more younger children, including a day care, which will most likely use the water park, he said.

"One thing we looked at were the number of lap swimmers using the Elks Pool, and they were very few," Ballantyne said. "I think we managed to come up with a compromise which provided the best solution."

Strothman, a Bismarck native, grew up using the Elks Pool, learning how to swim there and even working there as a lifeguard. But she said she doesn't believe a basin pool should be built.

"The plan we came up with will get a lot more use than if we put in a tub pool," she said. "While we didn't have an actual vote that night (Feb. 3), everybody there was in favor of it. What happened afterwards I can only speculate, but everyone at the meeting was in favor of it."

Other members of the Aquatics Committee are Lisa Kudelka, Connie Kirchoffner, Sharon Tschider, Park Board commissioners Mark Zimmerman and Shannon Bakke, and park district employees Randy Bina, Jim Peluso and Paula Redman.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@bismarcktribune.com.)