City Manager Jim Buston delivered an update on the pool at the HealthPlus Fitness Center — located at East Alabama Medical Center — during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
“[EAMC] is not interested in a long-term lease of the pool,” Buston said. “If we really wanted to lease the pool, they would be interested in a 9-to-12-month lease.”
The facility needs to be repaired to be up to code, Buston said. The pool has multiple nonfunctional systems that need to be replaced and its boiler will not last much longer than the leasing period, Buston said.
The City did not discuss the exact cost of the lease because Buston cited too many deal-breakers. Roughly three months out of the 9-to-12-month lease would be spent doing repairs if the City were to lease the pool.
The pool entrance would also need to be updated so that it complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. EAMC will also be doing construction in other parts of the facility, potentially disrupting pool operations.
EAMC would not supply staffing, instructors, towels or maintenance of the leased area if an agreement was reached, Buston said. That means EAMC’s water therapy and fitness classes — the subject of much concern over the pool’s closing — would be discontinued even though the pool would be open, Buston said.
The pools planned for the Boykin Community Center will be prioritized going forward, Buston said.
After visiting the site of the new Opelika granite quarry, Ward 3 Council member Beth Witten proposed that Auburn create a resolution to support Opelika's fight against the quarry. All letters sent to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management will be reviewed on Feb. 20. The resolution will be voted upon at the Feb. 18 City Council meeting.
The proposal for a new Verizon Wireless cell tower was voted upon after being introduced at the Jan. 21 City Council meeting. A representative from the company asked for a postponement to March 3, since only Witten and Ward 7 Council member Jay Hovey voted to postpone the issue was voted upon Tuesday evening. The resolution was unanimously denied.
A resolution for conditions use approval for increasing balcony space at SkyBar was postponed until Feb. 18 since no additional information was provided to the Council since their Jan. 21 meeting.
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