Eau Claire talks about Fairfax Pool's future

Jun. 1—EAU CLAIRE — For the next few years, the city's list of projects planned at Fairfax Park Pool is mostly upkeep — replacing a water slide, a retaining wall, doors and other parts that get worn down over time.

But city officials advised Eau Claire's elected leaders to be prepared for the day when the pool built in 1991 will need to be wholly replaced.

David Solberg, city engineering director, said that potential project would be at least five, maybe 10 years away, but he told the City Council to keep it in mind.

"The pool itself — we're looking at having to do a replacement of that, a reconstruction of it," Solberg said during a Tuesday evening work session with the council.

Rebuilding the outdoor public pool as well as the plumbing buried underneath it is currently estimated to cost about $6 million, he said.

Dawn Comte, the city's recreation manager, said the buried pipes and their joints are becoming brittle and more prone to leakage.

An example of that was when the city had to replace one of the major pipes in 2020 by digging into the pool's floor and then replacing that concrete. That major repair and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the city to cancel Fairfax Park Pool's 2020 season.

While the pool is showing its age, Comte said other parts of the summer swimming hot spot remain in good condition.

"Our mechanics are good and our buildings are good," she said. "It's just that shell and water lines underneath."

She suggested the city order a study to ascertain the pool's condition and get advice on the best route for a long-term plan for replacing it.

During Tuesday's conversation about Eau Claire's public pool, there were occasional references to Chippewa Falls' situation. That neighboring city announced in April that it will likely close its pool in 2023 due to impending high costs for renovations and upgrades.

"We don't want to get into a situation where we say we have to close the pool next year," Comte said. "We don't want to be there."

Talk about future costs for Fairfax Park Pool as well as Hobbs Ice Center were part of the work session that kicked off discussions of Eau Claire's 2023 budget.

"This begins the start of our budget process, which starts with the capital budget," City Manager Stephanie Hirsch said.

Currently the city has about $33.55 million in requests from its departments for various projects including building upkeep, roadwork, replacing vehicles and buying equipment. That part of the 2023 budget is still being worked on, and Hirsch said the proposal will be finished by June 27.

Though he shared a pricey long-term forecast for replacing several facilities, Solberg said next year's slate of city projects will be fairly average.

"The good news is we look good in 2023," he said.

That applies to the capital projects side of the budget, but Hirsch gave a preview of the other part of the city's budget that pays for personnel and other day-to-day expenses for municipal services.

"It appears that apart from any surprises, we will not have any new money to spend next year and will need to look at places to cut," she said.

Her early projection is the city will be able to take in up to $1.95 million more next year in property taxes for operational costs due to state-imposed levy limits. That alone will not cover anticipated increases in health care premiums, raises guaranteed in contracts and other ongoing expenses.

"There's no room to add. There's only room to subtract," Hirsch told the council.

The city is considering to go to a referendum later this year to ask voters for permission to exceed those property tax levy limits. A consulting group began calling Eau Claire households this week to ask if they'd be willing to pay more for municipal services and public education, Hirsch said.

After getting results of those surveys later this month, the city expects to make a decision on whether it will go to referendum, she said.

If a question is put to voters, it would be in November — around the time the city will be discussing and approving a 2023 budget. Hirsch said that would prompt the city to draft two budgets — one that assumes a referendum passes and another assuming it doesn't.