I would like to provide some additional information to the school board meeting agenda item relating to the need for a new pool. I have been working with a group of parents to provide a solution to replace the only public aquatic facility in the county.
I am the head swim coach at Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville and a coach with San Benito Aquatics, so I am vested in the outcome of this issue.
There are at least five distinct groups of people that are affected by the closed pool; the high school, the city recreation department, the county (general public recreation), and nonprofit organizations such as the YMCA and San Benito Aquatics. These groups are unanimous in their recognition of a need for the entire community to have a pool(s) for their use. The high school P.E. department (where over 50% of the students are not water safe), water polo teams (varsity and JV boys and girls), and swim teams (varsity and JV boys and girls), are the immediate victims of the pool closure. The city rec department was not able to provide any aquatic services and hire local coaches and instructors (usually high school students). The county general public was not able to go swimming or get relief from the heat during this past summer. The Y has a tradition of providing great swim teams and programs throughout the country and has a longstanding plan to provide swimming to their members. The San Benito Aquatics team is growing and needs a larger facility to train.
John Corrigan has done hundreds of hours of research and promotion of a solution that will meet the needs of the entire community. John’s research led to a recommendation of MYRTHA Pools to the board of trustees. MYRTHA is a 50-year-old company that builds pools that are constructed in a modular method that uses a PVC coating on a stainless steel framework. This is similar to your above-ground pool in your back yard but super-sized. It does not require any of the maintenance that a traditional gunite pool requires (algae control and resurfacing every five to seven years) and comes with a 25-year warranty.
The modularity is important as the pool site as proposed by the school and county is very close to the Calaveras Fault running through town. It is guaranteed not to leak in the severest of earthquakes.
We are recommending a 50 meter by 25-yard competition pool with a movable bulkhead that will allow for two water polo games at once or two 25-yard pools along with a diving well with one and three meter diving boards and a second 25-yard pool that is shallow for teaching and handicapped access as well as water aerobics. These two pools will meet the needs of the above five groups and provide a facility that will attract multi-day events providing income to the local restaurants, hotels, and other businesses and providing additional revenues to the city and county.
The cost of the entire project is right at $8 million, including buildings, deck and pool. The time to construct is about half the time needed for a gunite pool, with only one truck of materials rather than hundreds of heavy equipment vehicles needed for a traditional pool.
We need to have a committee of the five stakeholders (or more) with the backing of their representative groups that will drive this project to fulfill the needs of the community while keeping politics out of the process. Set aside your other agendas and work for the good of the entire community. We have a group of dedicated people who will do whatever is needed to get this done and urge the stakeholders to agree to get together to help form and participate in this new committee.
We as a community have an opportunity to replace an antiquated facility with a first-class (world-class) facility that will generate income while meeting the needs of the entire community as well.
Judd Shutts, Hollister
