Voters say 'yes' to swim center

By Jennifer McBride / Leader Staff

Lake County has a new aquatics center. At 9:40 p.m. Tuesday, officials at the Lake County Commissioners office reported their total tally of 1,822 voters in favor of funding the Mission Valley Aquatics Center and 1,382 against. According to Tana Seeley, Mission Valley Aquatics Director, 5,235 ballots were mailed out, meaning turnout was a total of about 61.2 percent.

Though officials won't officially tally the votes until a week from today on Feb. 5, the nearly 500-vote unofficial lead gives supporters of the aquatics center reason to be confident.

The levy will cover the projected $297,000 annual operation, salaries and maintenance costs. MVA projections have expected revenue at a little more than half that, at $160,688. The aquatics center may take a few years to maximize their profit. If so, Seeley said the tax may be reevaluated.

Right now, residents will be charged about $14.36 per every $100,000 of assessed property value per year. Taxpayers will receive a minimum $25 on season passes because of their contributions. Residents won't start paying money until the building is actually completed.

Local residents have been trying to get an aquatics center built in Lake County for decades, but is the first time voters actually passed funding for a pool. Because of that history, local residents may have been surprised that the ballot measure won at all, much less by such a high margin.

Now that voters have approved operations funding for the aquatics center, it's up to the Mission Valley Aquatics (MVA) organization to acquire the rest of the funds necessary to raise the actual building. Seeley said that a few people had pledged money to the pool which they would give once the measure passed. Now, MVA will be able to collect the $2 million donation which was granted contingent on voters approving the ballot. Combined with the $80,000 already pledged to the center, MVA will have collected over a third of the pool's projected $7 million in building cost. Seeley said MVA also plans to apply to grants to cover the remaining costs.

Pool plans include a 25-yard, eight-lane competitive/fitness pool, a warm water therapy/instructional pool and a shallow entry children's play pool. The nearest comparable pool, Seeley told the Leader in an earlier interview, is in Missoula.

The new pool will be built near Highway 93 just south of Polson. Though phase one of the aquatics center only covers the costs of a pool, MVA has developed a second stage which could involve adding racquetball and basketball courts for local use, along with a potential work-out area. Seeley said the MVA won't begin work on phase two of the project until after the pool has been built.

Mitch Young, one of the members of the MVA Board of Directors, said that supporters were overjoyed that the measure passed so well.

"We're all very pleased down here," he said.

For more information about MVA, people can call Tana Seeley at 883-4567, or visit http://www.mvaquatics.org/ to read the MVA's business plan.