This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
In approximately forty-five days, qualified electors in Longmont will be asked to vote on several important ballot questions referred by a majority of the city council.
Ballot issue 3B is the most important and expensive of the questions. 3B asks voters to approve $45.5 million in bond authority and a sales tax increase to constructan Olympic-size competitive swim pool and a sheet of National HockeyLeague-size ice.
On August 27, 2019, a majority of the city council declared these proposed facilities community needs and urged residents to vote yes for the bond authority and tax increase (resolution 2019-82). Three council members opposed the resolution.
As a twenty-five year resident and former city manager in Longmont, I believe a majority of the city council has confused their wants with community needs. I believe the proposed Olympic-size 50 meter,10 lane competitive pool and National Hockey League-size sheet of ice are luxurious wants, not needs.
What Longmont really needs at this time to serve its ballooning population is an additional full-service recreation center similar to Quail Campus but with additional swim lanes. A full-service recreation center appropriately located would meet the real needs of our community at approximately half the cost and it would be available to all residents. Most Longmont residents will not utilize an Olympic-size competitive pool.
Officials at the St. Vrain Valley School District want Longmontresidents to tax themselves to construct the facility so that it is available for District-wide swim team practice and District-sponsored swim meets. The school district wants access to the pool for swim activities from November to May each year. However, the District is not willing to enter into a binding agreement to pay for such use. In a recently signed letter of intent the District clearly states the letter “…is not a contract or in any other way legally binding upon the parties.”
I have heard it said that many residents pay for community facilities they do not personally use. Do not let these advocates fool you by conflating their wants for a competitive pool and ice rink with true community needs such as parks, greenways and a public education system.
I believe the election on November 5 is an excellent opportunity for Longmont residents to send a clear message. Vote no on the sales tax increase and bond authority and defeat this ballot issue.
The message to the city council will be: concentrate on needs not wants and build an additional full-service recreation center. The message to the School District will be: collaborate with all residents and governmental entities within your boundaries to find a way to finance, construct and operate the competitive pool. Don’t expect only Longmont residents to be on the hook for a tax increase and the ongoing operational cost of the facility your District wants.
The city feasibility study for the proposed facilities shows a need for a population of over 275,000 people to meet the cost recovery expectations for the pool/ice complex. Longmont has approximately 96,000 residents. However, if you add Niwot, Lyons, Mead, Firestone, Frederick, Dacono and Berthoud, all entities within the school district, you are close to the required population. Since the District wants a competitive pool and within its boundaries is a sufficient population to support its operation, I believe it is time District officials step up and provide leadership to find a collaborative solution for a competitive pool.
It is appropriate for Longmont residents to pay their share of the District’s costs. I do not believe it is appropriate to expect Longmont residents to assume the tax burden and risk for competitive pool the District wants. The competitive swim pool is only part of the expensive tax/bond proposal on the ballot. The proposed National Hockey League-size ice sheet has been derisively referred to as the Ice Palace. In my mind the term palace seems appropriate since the word usually indicates “off limits” to most people.
Few Longmont residents will utilize an ice rink and it is clearly a stretch to call it a community need. Even officials at the school district recognize that this proposed facility is beyond the District’s reach. They have not even calculated rental rate for the District’s use of it. I believe the ice facility is the epitome of a frivolous want. It is not a need. I encourage residents to vote no on this ballot issue. No tax increase or bond authority for these unnecessary facilities.
Gordon Pedrow
Longmont, Co 80503
