No end in sight to city pool saga

There are some things in life you know are going to take time.

Your taxes. A visit to the doctor. A decision on the Lake Worth pool.

It feels as if the saga of what to do with the creaky facility has been going on since a one-time peanut farmer named Jimmy Carter was running the country.

There are those who want to save the 46-year pool, closed this year because the city said it’s not safe. Then there’s that group that wants it leveled so the city can build another amenity — a water park perhaps? — that has the potential to attract more business and desperately needed revenue.

No matter what camp you fall in, just about everyone wants this: a resolution.

On Tuesday, the city hosted a work session so commissioners could be updated on the pool’s condition by Kimley-Horn and Associates and how much it would cost to fix.

However, there was more confusion — and anger — at Kevin D. Thompson the end of the meeting than before it started.

That’s mostly because Kimley-Horn estimated it would cost the city about $600,000, including permit fees, to restore the pool to its 1971 glory — a shockingly low number.

That figure was considerably lower than the $4.6 million Bob McCallister, an independent aquatics expert, told commissioners this year it would cost to upgrade and repair the pool.

Mayor Pam Triolo said she was confused by the latest figure. Commissioner Omari Hardy wasn’t sure which figures he could trust. Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell, always the most vocal commissioner on the pool saga, said the facility has been used as a “political pawn.”

Sure, the reports looked at the facility from two different perspectives, but that gap between those figures was wide enough for a space shuttle to fly through.

The day after the meeting, the mayor told The Palm Beach Post it was time for the city to go back to the drawing board, the last thing many residents want to hear after so many hours of debate and discussion.

It’s clear the city wants to do the right by its residents and is trying to get as much input as possible. But there comes a point where you can’t please everyone, even though, in a sense, you want to.

Triolo said she’s done with estimates. Now is the time for some “real” figures from contractors who will be doing whatever work needs to be done.

Lake Worth commissioners have a history of debating topics ad nauseam. Just look at how the city is having a difficult time deciding whether it should increase the public speaking time from two to three minutes.

But the time for talk on this matter should be nearing an end.

Whatever the city decides — fix the pool or get rid of it — there are people who aren’t going to be happy.

But at least a decision will have been made and the city finally can move forward.