Soaring costs doom Dalton aquatic center

Oct. 24—Citing soaring construction costs and large projected operating deficits, the Dalton City Council voted 3-0 Thursday during a meeting for the city Finance Committee to kill plans for an aquatics center.

The Finance Committee is composed of the City Council members. One seat on the council is vacant, and council member Tyree Goodlett was absent.

Council members have been planning an aquatics center near the Dalton Convention Center that would have a 50-meter, competition-sized swimming pool as well as a 25-yard by 25-yard multipurpose pool that could be used for physical therapy. The pools would have been used for city recreation programs as well as for meets and practices for local schools. The only competition-size pools in Whitfield County are at Dalton High School and the outdoor pool at the John Davis Recreation Center, which are shared by all the high school and middle school teams in the county.

"The last construction estimate we performed was right at $23 million," said City Administrator Andrew Parker.

The city had budgeted $13 million for the project.

In addition, Parker said that a business model study by the consulting firm Counsilman-Hunsaker found that the aquatic center would have an annual operating cost of about $2 million. But the study found that the city would only get about $1 million a year in revenue, leaving it to cover the remaining costs out of its operating budget.

Parker said that when city officials began planning the project, they anticipated having partners that could offset some of those costs.

"We have had stakeholder meetings with the school systems, the swim community, and other stakeholders but we have not received any firm commitment from any external agencies to help guarantee some offsetting revenue to the project," Parker said.

Parker said that given that the funds the city has budgeted for the aquatics center are not sufficient to build it and that the city has other needs in recreation, stormwater control and economic development, he recommended canceling plans for the aquatics center so the city can redirect the money that had been budgeted to it to those other needs.

Mayor David Pennington called the vote to cancel the aquatics center "disappointing but unavoidable."

"The land that we wanted (near Dalton Mall) to put it on originally never materialized, that deal never came through. and then, the situation with Dalton Utilities right now and the lawsuits, we just didn't feel like it's right to commit to spending that much money in these current times," Pennington.

Pennington, who had previously called swimming the last remaining piece of Dalton's recreation program, said the aquatics center "should stay on the city's radar in the future. I think it would be good to build something like this that would attract even more people to come here."

In June, Dalton Utilities agreed to pay $25 million over five years to settle a lawsuit brought by the city of Rome over chemicals known as per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) in the city's drinking water, which Rome officials claimed were discharged into the water by Dalton Utilities' wastewater facilities.

In a statement at the time, the utility said it "denies any wrongdoing in connection with the alleged presence of PFAS in Rome's municipal water system and rejects all liability associated with Rome's lawsuit. In serving the best interests of our customers, Dalton Utilities reached a full and final resolution of the matter to avoid costly and protracted litigation."

The utility remains a defendant in the federal lawsuit Johnson v. 3M Company and others, which was brought by a Rome resident. Both sides are waiting to see if the federal court in Rome certifies it as a class action lawsuit, meaning it could be brought not only on behalf of the person who filed it but for all people who have been allegedly harmed.

Parker said the city is looking at ways to make the outdoor pool at the John Davis Recreation Center, which is currently under renovation, a "semi-indoor pool."

"The pool itself is heated," he said. "Some places use a dome so that their pools can be used when it is cold. We are looking at that."

About $7 million that had been budgeted to the aquatics center would have come from $21 million in bonds issued by the city in 2021. Those funds can only be used for projects involving economic development, recreation and stormwater control. The rest of the money would have come from the city's fund balance.

"In recreation, (Parks and Recreation Department Director) Caitlin Sharpe has presented a $20 million project list to the SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) committee," Parker said. "She may or may not receive only $5 to $6 million as the funds are allocated between the city and county and then internally."

Parker said the major projects include a new pickleball facility.

"We have some major upgrades we need to do at Heritage Point Park, which is an over-20-year-old facility," he said. "The bathrooms need to be updated, the concession stands. We need to work on the master plan, which calls for some pedestrian bridges between the east campus and the west campus now that we have the soccer complex. Al Rollins Park is even older, so we have a lot of work that needs to be done on the restrooms, the concession stands and the fencing."

He said that Parks and Recreation Commission has also recommended converting the baseball fields at Al Rollins to artificial turf.

Parker said the city has 25 stormwater projects identified by an engineering firm but funding for only 11.

He said a project to construct more hangars at the Dalton Municipal Airport would qualify as economic development. The city has received a state/federal grant for the project which calls for a local match of $500,000.

He said the funds that had been budgeted for the aquatics center could be used for some of those projects if the City Council approves it.