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Highland pool bathhouse plans presented
BY GEOFF COX • STAFF WRITER
 | | Plans for the Monterey pool and bathhouse. The building is roughly 260,000 square feet in area and has a footprint of 48' by 56'. The entrance to the facility is between the womens' changing room and the office. The passage is a breezeway that opens into the pool area. |
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MONTEREY - Architect Mark Paxton of Staunton presented a substantially complete set of drawings for the Monterey pool bathhouses to Highland supervisors and the pool steering committee meeting Wednesday morning.
The drawings, compiled with the input from pool fundraising chair Maggie Cavell, include locker room facilities with showers, toilets, and changing areas; a room for pool equipment, a concession area, and office. The building materials will be block, with a wooden truss roof. The roof system is designed to add solar panels for heating the pool later and will incorporate into the planned phase 2 (wellness center).
The price tag: Near $400,000 if built according to the blueprints. Total additional costs for all the bells and whistles (fence, small gravel parking area, furnishings) comes closer to $500,000.
 | | A three-sided view of the proposed bathhouse. The north side that will face Monterey is at top. The view from the pool area is at bottom. The roof system was specifically designed to be incorporated into "phase two" of the project, a wellness center addition. |
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A lively discussion followed concerning the potential cost of the bathhouse. Ideas for funding such as the county getting a line of credit or down-sizing the plans were heavily debated. Ideas ranged from a metal shed and Port-apotties; covering only the pool filters/equipment and using the school parking lot and bathrooms; building a completely different building; and using different building materials.
"What was the board's plan?" asked Cavell.
"The board's plan was never to do anything this elaborate," said supervisor Jerry Rexrode.
Steering committee member Sherry Sullenberger asked where the board's plans were and said she never saw any plans, calling into question the supervisors' input in the process.
Rexrode responded that the recreation commission was given the responsibility for design of the pool.
Sullenberger then asked why the committee's plans were being picked apart.
From there the discussion turned to money.
Rexrode said the proposed building could be done with $260,000 at minimum excluding concrete pads, parking, and landscaping. He said for $100,000 beyond what has already been committed (to the pool itself) a bare bones building housing the equipment with a fence could be built. "I think somewhere along the line the county will have to provide funding," he said. "I think we have to be realistic. You're going to spend some tax dollars, hopefully not."
"Nobody has ever denied that was a possibility," said supervisor Robin Sullenberger. "We said we would never spend taxpayer money as long as there were other options. We have other options." He suggested the steering committee make recommendations to submit to the board at its meeting March 4, after which they would schedule a public hearing.
In conclusion, the steering committee passed motions to:
• Designate recreation director Brian Parker as "clerk of the works" to oversee the pool construction and act as a liaison for the committee;
• Prepare a minimum and maximum cost request for submission to the board; and
• Request Paxton prepare a line item cost estimate sheet for the projected plan.
The March 4 meeting of the supervisors is at 7:30 p.m. at the modular center.
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