Pool project likely dead
Jun. 17—GREENSBURG — It appears the idea of building a new community swimming pool to serve the Greensburg/Decatur County community is dead in the water.
Following nearly an hour of discussion at Monday morning's meeting of the Decatur County Board of Commissioners about whether or not to move forward with construction of a new facility to replace Allen Memorial Pool, which was closed early last year due to its deteriorating condition, and how to pay for such a project should it be undertaken, the Commissioners were unable to agree on how to proceed.
Commissioner Tony Blodgett asked his counterparts what they wanted to do about the pool as well as other projects that have been discussed in recent months including paying for the recently constructed county highway garage, the reconstruction of Park Road, and improvements to the Decatur County Fairgrounds.
Blodgett suggested a new pool could be built in the $6 million range using EDIT (Economic Development Income Tax) funds.
Much discussion followed, with Commissioners Jeremy Pasel and Mark Koors indicating that rather than spend that much money on a new pool they preferred to hold on to as much of the incoming EDIT funds as they can as savings that could be used to pay for current and future debts.
"We can afford it, the question is should we?" Pasel said at one point about building a new pool.
Blodgett asked Pasel and Koors for specifics regarding what they think needs to be paid for in the near future and where they envision the money coming from.
"I've been asking all these questions for the last eight months," Blodgett said. "So, what do have to pay for? Where it is (the money) coming from and where is it going?"
Blodgett said that his findings are that the county has $960,000 in EDIT funds coming in annually and only $206,000 of that has been earmarked, leaving nearly $700,000 annually of EDIT income coming in that hasn't been appropriated.
He also noted that $2.3 million in EDIT funds have currently been banked for future needs, and that he wasn't suggesting those funds be spent on a pool, only monies from the roughly $700,000 in EDIT dollars that are currently uncommitted and accruing annually.
Eventually, Pasel said he didn't think construction of a new pool was feasible without implementing a 1% food and beverage tax, which would be levied on all ready-to-eat food purchases made throughout the county. The idea of such a tax has already been voted down.
Worth noting is that $3 million in funding for a new pool was already available in the form of two grants: $1.5 million from ARPA (the America Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also known as the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan) and another $1.5 million from READI 1.0 (Indiana's Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative).
Decatur County Auditor Janet Chadwell said the committee formed to designate how to spend the ARPA funds will need to ask the Decatur County Council to un-obligate those dollars and designate a new use for them.
Commissioner Pasel reiterated what Chadwell said about the ARPA funds being reallocated to other projects.
"Some of those projects could include building maintenance, funding the County's portion of the Park Road Project, or other quality of life projects at a park," he said. "This is not an exhaustive list, but there are possibilities. ... I would like the community to know this was an extremely difficult choice because I know the pool would be beneficial; however, as a Commissioner I have to ensure that our tax dollars are spent in a responsible manner. I could not put money towards a pool when our county buildings and Highway Department need additional funding."
The $1.5 million in READI money will almost certainly be forfeited.
Local Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Bryan Robbins said if Decatur County doesn't use the READI funds designated for a new pool, the READI region to which Decatur belongs, known as I-74s Southeast Corridor Accelerate Rural Indiana group, has other projects the money will be redirected towards.
Kevin Green: kevin.green@greensburgdailynews.com or 812-651-0885.
