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Half-cent sales tax discussed; Proceeds would go toward new pool, Buck Run renovations. Proposal is on the April 5 ballot.
In its second community conversation, the Community Health and Wellness Committee hosted about 35 Fort Scott residents at East Side Fire Station No. 2 to present more information about a half-cent sales tax proposal that would fund renovation of the city's pool and expansion of Buck Run Community Center.
All together, the projects would cost an estimated $3.9 million. If passed, the sales tax in Fort Scott would increase from 8.3 percent to 8.8 percent and run for 10 years. The proposal will be on the ballot April 5 in addition to city commission and school board elections.
Sales tax proceeds would mainly be used to renovate the 72-75-year-old swimming pool and some $400,000-$500,000 used to fund a 6,000-square-foot addition to the south end of Buck Run Community Center. The swimming pool would be made more handicap accessible, include shaded areas, slides and a more efficient pump system.
Buck Run's additions would include a fitness room, multi-purpose room and showers.
A display of receipts from grocery stores, restaurants and drug stores in town showed the difference in what consumers pay now and what they would pay with the half-cent tax. If you spend $100 a week on groceries, committee member and former City Commissioner Carolyn Sinn said, it will cost you 50 cents a week more.
Chairwoman of the Health and Wellness Committee Reta Baker said if you spend $50 a week, the proposed tax would add 25 cents per week, or $13 a year.
She stressed that this is not a property tax and everyone who shops and eats in Fort Scott will be contributing, "not just those living in the city limits."
"It's a good way to fix the pool and expand Buck Run without raising property taxes and to make everything handicap accessible," Sinn said.
The pool currently needs extensive concrete repair yearly, there is leakage, limited access, the children's pool doesn't have good circulation and is not chemically treated and there is a lift chair for those with mobility issues, but Baker said, that's not particularly enticing if you're the one using it.
"People say, why not just fix it," Baker said. "The pool is aging and all things come to a point where they exhaust their life expectancy."
The pumps were replaced in the early 1980s and cast iron pipes create rust issues. The cost of replacing the concrete basin alone would be $1.6 million, Baker said. "That doesn't fix the problem with the concrete apron or the pool house" where water stands and can get stagnant and smelly, she said.
The funds would offer an opportunity to offer handicap accessibility, diving boards, small and large water slides, shaded areas where parents could watch their children while they swim and concession stands. Possible programs could include water therapy, group aerobics, swimming lessons, party rental, twilight swim parties and other features, according to a brochure published by the Community Health and Wellness Committee. "It's very exciting to look at," Baker said, adding that the proposed pool would be similar to those found in neighboring cities.
Baker noted that other communities finance their recreational facilities through sales tax so every time people eat and shop in Pittsburg, Chanute or Coffeyville, for example, they are helping finance facilities in those towns.
The pool currently costs $60,000-$75,000 a year to support and it will continue to need that, but new, more efficient equipment could help save money, Baker said.
Some of the advantages to having a new pool are that it could be used to help recruit new businesses and residents to Fort Scott and provide recreation for children and adults to help people become more physically active. In a study conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, 99 Kansas counties were surveyed and Bourbon County ranked 98th with 1 being the healthiest. (www.countyhealthranking.org/kansas.)
"We need to provide all the opportunities we can to people to get healthier and stay healthier," Baker said.
The committee is hoping to break ground on the new pool Sept. 1 and complete the project in time to open for a portion of the following summer, possibly slightly later than normal. The city is currently working with the fire department to offer lifeguard training so it might be possible to get college students to man the pool and keep it open later. Lifeguards currently are mostly high school students who return to school in early August.
One resident attending the meeting said he thought the percentage of people who use the facility is too low to merit the sales tax and it would become a burden on the taxpayer. He also thought the price of admission should be higher. Current admission charges are $1.25 for adults 13 and over, $1 for those under 13, $1 for seniors (60 and over) and free for infants age 0-3.
For the new facility, projected costs would be $2 for people age 5-19; $3 for adults; and $2.50 for seniors. Officials said this is based on costs in similar-sized communities.
The current pool covers 11,250 square feet. The tennis courts to the north would be taken out for parking, Assistant City Manager Susan Brown said.
Challenges at Buck Run include access, space limitations, inability to add new programs and activities due to lack of space, having to go up 18 steps to work out, and for a full workout, having to use three rooms, officials said. Baker said the equipment at Buck Run is "excellent," but the rooms are small, crowded and have poor air circulation. There also aren't any showers.
With the addition to the community center, programs could be expanded, Baker said. "We could have a racquetball court," she said. "... Our intent is that we not box ourselves in and limit the activities."
Committee members are available to speak to groups. For more information, visit www.fsrecfuture.org, or call Fort Scott City Hall at (620) 223-0550. Anyone who would like to tour Buck Run or the pool can call the community center at 223-0386.