Re-tiling pool could cost public time, money

‘‘Advice was given to council that the existing pool has a life of 20 more years. ’’

Cold weather caused damage to the tiles in the outdoor swimming pool at the Swim Zone in Matamata.

But it looks like hot weather is going to cause a delay in repairing it.

Matamata-Piako District Council spokesperson Manaia Te Wiata said during the 2015 refurbishment, the outdoor tiles were exposed to extremely cold weather.

This deteriorated the surface of the tiles and made it a safety hazard.

As a temporary solution a resin was applied to the surface of the tiles to keep the pool operable until a long term solution can be found.

The council has looked into a number of options, one of which was to retile the entire pool.

Four tenders were received with only one in the financial scope of $295,188.81 but council made the decision not to accept it as more information was received.

A recommendation was made to councillors to accept the tender from Fletcher Construction for the refurbishment work but this was lost in a 5/4 vote by councillors who are looking for alternative options and will re-tender the work with more flexibility on completion time.

For re-tiling to take place it would mean the pool would have to be emptied to complete.

A time frame has to be agreed where the closure of the pool would cause the least amount of disruption to the public and also allow the work to be completed with curing time for adhesives to work successfully.

Councillors have favoured the application of aquabright which has a thermo polymer finish.

Questions are also being asked if there was any liability on the part of the contractor for the damage that occurred during the upgrade in 2015.

The council is investigating the potential of risk around emptying the pool and damage to the tiles caused by cold weather.

Advice was given to council that the existing pool has a life of 20 more years.