Summary

• The outdoor pool has been closed since the last meeting.
• A survey regarding the pool has closed, with ongoing comments on the pool’s website.
• Geotechnical testing by GEOS has been conducted; results are expected in a few weeks.
• Future options for the pool depend on these test results, with geotechnical costs to be included in estimates.
• Next update on geotechnical testing expected at the next meeting.
• The outdoor pool, constructed in 1944 and spring-fed, holds 2.2 million gallons of water.
• Significant repairs and renovations have been conducted, including recent shell repairs in 2018 costing $400,000.
• Issues such as significant water leakage have been noted, with approximately 100,000 gallons lost daily due to structural issues.
• Annual maintenance includes pressure washing and painting due to the pool’s size and ongoing maintenance requirements.
• The outdoor pool serves around 30,000 people annually during its season (May to August).
• Gate revenue for 2023 was $100,000 against an operating budget of $300,000-$400,000.
• Efforts to increase revenue through events like movie nights are being considered.
• Staffing includes lifeguards paid between $13-$15 per hour, with plans to expand events if staffing levels increase.

Full Text

The September 14, 2023 meeting of the Recreation and Parks Advisory Board was convened at
7:00 pm in the Oak Ridge Recreation Center Social Room with Chairman Jake Greear presiding.

1. Call to Order

2. Roll Call
Present:
Jake Greear, Doug Bataille, Terri Daugherty, Ann Miller, Kelly Mccampbell, Chris Melhorn, Michele Thornton, Dan Robbins
Absent:
Alissa Jones

Also Present: Jon Hetrick, Recreation & Parks Director, staff liaison
Also Absent: Seth Rodgers, Recreation & Parks, Special Projects, staff liaison

3. Approval of September 14th Agenda
Moved item #9 up to item #5.
Agenda approved.

4. Approval of August 2023 Meeting Minutes
Revised to add last name initials for comments by Doug C. and Doug B. And under the Northern Boundary Greenway section changed “people have put up sheds …” to “people had put up sheds”. Terri emailed revised minutes to Jon.
Approved as revised (unanimous).

5. Appearance of Citizen (Non-agenda Items)
Doug C.: Bike and trail running race Oct. 7 – 8 at Haw Ridge. Clinch valley Trail Alliance is sponsoring it. 157 members right now. Workday to prepare for it on Sept. 23, at old Edgemoor Rd. at 9 am. At City Council work Session in Aug., interim city manager said the city was working to obtain ED 6 parcel (parallels Wisconsin) from DOE. The new City manager Randy Hemann will be reporting to begin on Nov. 1. Interests include fly fishing, trails, and hiking.

6. Officer reports: none.

7. Committee Reports/ Board Work Plan:

• Oak Ridge Pool
  • Outdoor pool – since last meeting, outdoor pool closed. Survey was going to close out.
  • Jon H: survey is closed, but comment section is still open on pool website. GEOS has gone in and done their drilling. We expect results from that in a week or two. Then after that, it will be passed along to Kimley Horn. The drill down and pull up a core, to analyze what is going on under the pool.
  • Doug B. asked about timeline for options. Jon H. said it depends on reports from the testing. It will probably be toward the end of the year. The geotechnical costs should be included in any cost estimates.
  • We may have the results from the geotechnical testing at next month’s meeting.
  • Michele: comments regarding social media Facebook site “Friends of the Oak Ridge Pool”. They have listed advisory board member names. Concern about posting, whether you are posting as yourself or as a representative of the advisory board.
  • Presentation by Vonda:
    • Pool is spring fed, 2.2 million gallons of water. Constructed in 1944. Most major renovations in 1992-1993. No major renovation since 1994, just repairs. The little pool was added in 2008. It’s a completely different pool with a different filtration system. In 2016, did our first audit with Counsilman-Hunsaker. Gave a list of priority items for repairs. For the filter repair, in 2017, all four filters underwent repair replacing broken laterals, installing new valve handles, and a complete change. Mural was added in 2017. Art director from Roane State worked with high school students. City just had to pay for paint, all labor was volunteer. In 2017, did a locker room facelift. City has to paint the locker rooms on a yearly basis. Locker room shower walls need to be replaced. Pool shell repair, spring 2018, the pool shell underwent construction to repair cracks and weak spots found throughout the concrete of the aging pool. At the time, the shell was repaired for $400,000. The contractor said that it would probably need to be replaced in 10 years. The problems are from chemicals leaking underneath. Jon H.: estimates that it leaks 100,000 gallons per day, based on measurements at the end of last year. Vonda: evaporation for a pool outside is only about an inch. See photo. Measurements show several inches per day. Jon H: we’re very confident that it is not evaporation. City employee had to get lowered down to weld the pump, using a crane.
    • Getting the pool ready- city starts on it late February or early march. Pool requires pressure washing and painting every year, to maintain work that was done in 2018. They use an algae resistant paint. The entire pool shell is 58,815 sq. ft. They run 4-5 pressure washer at a time, and have 5 guys running them for a week or two. They paint a quarter of the pool every year. Because the paint is too expensive to do the whole pool every year.
    • The outdoor pool serves approximately 30,000 people per year (that’s for the season, May to August). It has been progressively going back up each year. Of those numbers, about half is adults (over 18), the other half is youth (up to 18). Only 2,000-3,000 are senior citizen age. It’s the opposite for the indoor pool.
    • Gate revenue: 2023 was $100,000. Operating budget is close to 300,000- 400,000. Lifeguards are paid between $13-$15 per hour. Entrance fee is about $3.25 -$4.25. It went up a quarter in 2018, and there was a lot of blowback.
    • Gate revenue gets pushed back to the general fund. This cost recovery comes from swim lessons, scuba diving lessons, etc. Gate revenue goes back into the City’s general fund.
    • If she can increase staff, would like to add more events like movie nights. Staffing- this summer had 38 outdoor pool staff positions available, 24 staff positions filled, and 3 head guards, and 3 cashiers. We host 3 to 4 lifeguard classes per year and offer recertification to all current staff. Head guards are onsite managers. They write out schedules. And deal with any problems that arise. Health department sets the number of lifeguards required by square footage. We have taller stands than normal. We have the ability to put people out on the island, so that is why the state grants us that waiver. It is a little concerning to have a 16 or 17 year old out on the island watching over a thousand people. Our minimum lifeguard staff for open swim is 12. For weekends holidays, and events our preferred number is 16-18. All of the lifeguards sitting at the table have a job, for response. Capacity limit has been enforced since covid. There was a major medical save, and they had to crowd control a thousand people that were there. The feeling was they couldn’t have handled more, so they set the limit at 1,000. Is there an ability to close down section of the pool, to have a lower number of lifeguards. They will close off sections based on number of lifeguards available. There is a minimum number of lifeguards for lap swim time, it is 8. Their response time is supposed to be within 30 seconds (to get hands on them within 30 seconds of seeing the problem.
    • For the dog pool party, they let the chlorine evaporate beforehand. Usually make between 700 – 900, which is donated to the animal shelter. The dogs and people have a lot of fun.
  • CIPs Review
  • Summer programs: had 3 sessions of swimming lessons; ORCA (recreation swim team); and scuba.
  • Question about lessons for kayakers to roll over. They aren’t doing that now, because there is not enough time in the schedule.
  • Indoor pool. 7 lanes, 25 yards.
  • Swim Teams: ACAC (atomic city aquatic club) currently has 75 swimmers; ORHS has 45 swimmers; and ORCA which has about 25-35 swimmers.
  • ORHS practices 4 days a week, and we host 4 – 5 swim meets. ACAC practices 5 days a week, they have a 3 day meet in October. ORCA practices 2 days a week, and hosts 3-4 swim meets.
  • The swim meets bring money into the city, with people staying at hotels and going to restaurants.
  • When swim teams from other counties come to swim, we charge them rent. The outdoor pool, even though it has a 25 yard pool, it is not regulated to host meets.
  • Repairs – in 2017 put in a new heater. 2018- redid the railings for health dept. regulations. They put in a new rail and steps. In 2022, had the pool resurfaced.
  • Contract cost was $92,975. They thought second layer would be fine, but it wasn’t, so they had to remove that, so it increased the cost. Total/final cost for resurfacing: $120,745.
  • What’s next: Indoor pool – resurfacing of the pool deck, chemical change out from gaseous chlorine to tablets. And moving forward with the outdoor pool project.
• North Boundary Greenway
  • Michele – ED 6 – Michele has been keeping track of the ED 6. License agreement between the dept. of energy who is the granter of ED 6, and Legacy Parks, who is the grantee of ED 6. They work together to grant trail access on the ED 6. About 300 acres of land. The board has received some information about recent trail development.
  • In 2019, Legacy Parks reached out to the Dept. of Energy, asking for 3 new trails. Michele provided the letter, and a map. At the meeting, Michele asked if this was the same map that was provided with the letter/request in 2019. She was told that yes, it is the map that was provided with that request.
  • Second letter, from US Dept. of Energy, providing information about what is being granted, and authority to those trail requests. The letter from DOE grants authority for one trail. The east southside recreation trail.
  • Jake: City doesn’t have any purview or ownership rights of the ED 6? Jon: The Big Oak trail that runs closer to the quarry is a city licensed trail. The other two trails that come down and connect to it are Legacy Parks trails.
  • What about Gallagher? Michele: granted by TDEC. Jon agrees.
• Greenway System
  • We put in a letter of interest for a grant program to fund a master plan, but we didn’t’ get selected to apply for the grant, it is very competitive. We are hoping to get some more funding down the line, after new city manager arrives.
  • Once we get a new city manager, that will be a priority to impress upon them the importance of getting funding in place.
• Parks & Rec Stewardship, Maintenance and Trail development
  • Ann- follow up about the dog park (discussed at last meeting). Said temporary fix is helpful. Jon: still working on a permanent fix.
  • Terri – comment regarding brush along the area where the regatta takes place at Melton Lake. Jon said it is on the to do list, it is just a matter of timing.
• Secondary & Long-Term Objectives
  • Facilitating community events.
  • Halloween party, Friday Oct. 27th. Construction on the building will have a major impact on that. Will be in the field below the civic center parking lot. Hay ride will be at the far end of the loop. Need volunteers to dress up in costumes for the hayride, and other volunteer roles.
  • Tree lighting ceremony first Friday in December, probably Dec. 1.
  • *Community awards – start thinking about nominating people. To recognize two community members for their efforts in the parks and rec world. Will bring our nominations to November meeting.
  • Rails to trails
  • Advisory support for conference center design
  • Support Melton Lake bridge preliminary design
  • Support continued development of the peace bell pavilion
  • Explore opportunities for the continued development of disc golf
  • Support blueways initiatives

8. Unfinished business:

• Jake has sent out a letter recommending renaming of North Ridge Trail to honor Liane & Bill Russell per March meeting motion. Jake drafted and sent to Jon. Jon will review and send to city manager.
• From last month: Clinch Valley Trail Alliance. 8 acres used for storing equipment and using for events. Jon is working to transfer that from the county to the city. Hopefully once that is acquired, parks dept. can make some improvements to the trailhead. Property value on the tax roll is 148,000, it’s two parcels. There are some issues that could take the value down, no sewer system, power lines that go through the property. City Council authorized city manager to offer up to $150,000.
• Update on that: City manager has submitted offers to the Anderson Co. Board of Education’s atty. Still waiting on a response to those offers.

9. New Business:

Nothing new.

10. Announcements
Director’s report.

• Parks dept. is now fully staffed.
• Have a new parks Crew Chief, with a horticulture background.
• Also hired another technician. Someone with experience in landscaping.
• Several recreation managers went to a conference in Memphis recently.
• The convention center is having a big effect on what’s going on at the civic center.
• Have to put in sprinkler system in the civic center.

Future agenda items:

• Oct. 12th is the normally scheduled meeting. Jon and Seth will be in Dallas on the 12th . October meeting will be rescheduled, likely to Oct. 19th .
• Board members should be thinking about community members to select for community awards in Dec. Would like to have those names in October.

Next meeting: October 19, 2023.

11. Adjournment