Parks and playgrounds subcommittee to continue discussions about aquatics facility project

The El Dorado Parks and Playgrounds Commission recently tabled a discussion regarding efforts to build a new public aquatics facility and agreed to refer the matter back to a subcommittee that is working on the project.

The long-running project is part of a master plan by the EPPC to improve city parks and is tied to the closure and subsequent demolition of the Mattocks Park swimming pool.

The pool, which was nearly 70 years old and the city's only public swimming pool, was razed in March after having been closed for two years.

The facility was initially shut down in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the past several years, city officials and the EPPC have discussed maintenance issues and the deterioration of the pool and equipment.

Questions also swirled about how attendance at the facility had declined over the years and if continued operations justified the pool's annual $30,000 budget.

The pool typically opened on Memorial Day and closed just before the start of school each year.

The facility remained closed in 2021 after an inspection by Arkansas Department of Health officials determined that the facility, which had not been significantly renovated since it opened in the early 1950s, did not meet state health codes for public swimming pools.

After a series of discussions about the matter, the EPPC decided last October to decommission and raze the pool and pool house.

Going forward, the group is looking into plans for a new public aquatics facility that may or may not be built in Mattocks Park.

Subcommittee

Commissioner Glenn Faust, who is part of an EPPC subcommittee that is working on the project, has said the process will be broken down into two phases.

Faust said the first phase entails developing a fully fleshed-out end design, with input from professionals and the public; compiling cost estimates for construction and a long-term operating budget; and researching and compiling information about grant opportunities.

The next phase, he said, would be to bid the project, after which a contractor/project manager would develop design concepts with information gathered from public hearings and come up with cost estimates for the option that is selected.

Faust said the question about the best location for a public aquatics facility in the city will be posed during community meetings.

"It may or may not be Mattocks Park. It very well could be, but that's where we solicit the community's feedback," he said.

He also previously said the work would be based on conceptual designs and cost frameworks that were drafted and presented last year by Michael Rogers of M R Designs.

M R Designs is a local architectural/design firm that is contracted with the city to provide professional services for the Department of Public Works.

Rogers presented three options, including:

• A zero-entry, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)- accessible pool with a section for four swim lanes.

• A larger pool and a smaller, "kiddie" pool.

• A splash-pad only.

During an EPPC meeting in March, Rogers explained the Department of Public Works requested the conceptual designs in late 2020 and while the designs were paid for by the city, they are the property of and copyrighted by M R Designs.

Rogers also made statements indicating that he does not favor using the designs as a basis for RFPs or requests for qualifications (RFQs) and allowing another contractor to modify them.

"I don't think that's how we want to do business," Rogers said.

"(I) just mainly wanted to put that out there, seeing where the pool project is and just seeing, kind of, where we might be able to assist in that," he continued. "At the same time, just in general, being able to provide those services to you as well."

Rogers later reiterated that M R Designs is interested in the Mattocks pool project, which, he said, is a local job that fills a need in the community.

Faust noted that the EPPC did not request the work from M R Designs.

Further discussion

On May 24, the EPPC continued discussions on the matter with Robert Edmonds, director of public works.

Faust inquired about the bid process and Edmonds explained that any city project that exceeds $5,000 must be bid with a scope of work and a public bid opening.

Edmonds suggested that the EPPC work with Debbie Stinson, secretary/office manager of the Department of Public Works to put together a bid package.

Faust said phase one of the project could cost approximately $30,000 and when he referred to phase two, Edmonds asked, "Are you scrapping the design you have now?"

Faust pointed to Rogers' comments in March and questioned if the commission could use the conceptual designs that were presented by M R Designs.

Edmonds said M R Designs bids on the city's professional services contract each year.

"That part has already been bid. He can provide that service. He can do that locally for you," Edmonds told Faust.

Edmonds added that the M R Designs concepts could be used to prepare construction documents for the aquatics project.

"I'm not comfortable with that, not bidding it out," Faust said, provoking a terse response from Edmonds.

"You can do whatever want to do. You asked me a question and you don't like my answer," Edmonds said.

Faust asked how the $30,000 would be funded and EPPC chairman Ken Goudy said the commission could present another funding request to the El Dorado Works Board.

The EWB administers the one-cent, city sales tax that is earmarked for economic development, municipal infrastructure and quality-of-life projects in the community.

The EPPC has been working on the master parks improvement plan since 2018 and last year, the group presented several funding requests to the EWB.

The EWB and El Dorado City Council signed off on funding packages that included:

• A total of $186,740 to pave the recreational trail surrounding Lions Club Municipal Golf Course ($166,000); a powered lawn sweeper ($16,346) for LCMGC; five, park-style, charcoal BBQ grills for Neel, Mattocks, Mellor, Mosby and Old City parks ($2,417).

• A total of $89,052 for a used fairway mower ($38,380) and two utility carts ($9,262 apiece) for LCMGC and $43,280 to build to two new basketball courts in Lions Club Park, which was located at the entrance of the golf course but has been shifted eastward, just south of the LCMGC pro shop.

• A total of $43,972 for a public restroom ($30,000) to serve the new Lions Club Park basketball courts and the recreational trail; two new water fountains ($12,400), one of which will be installed on the north side of the recreational trail and the other, on the south end of the trail near the new basketball courts; and $1,572 for a new picnic table, which will also be placed near the basketball courts.

After further discussion on May 24, the EPPC agreed to send the matter of the aquatics facility back to the subcommittee for further review.

Other members of the subcommittee are commissioners Greg Harrison and David Hurst.

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