Watertown officials recently broke ground on a new pool in Thompson Park, but the project's future is already uncertain.
Mayoral candidate Jeff Smith says as he knocks on doors in the final weeks of the campaign season, one of the top issues for voters is the new $3.1 million pool, which the Watertown City Council approved in August in a narrow 3-2 vote. Smith has long been an opponent to the idea and says if elected, he would consider stopping the project when he takes office in January.
"If no actual work has been done on the pool itself - concrete hasn’t been poured, plumbing hasn’t been done - and if there is a termination clause in the contract that doesn’t cost the city a lot of money, then that is something I would definitely look at," Smith said. "A city of this size having three pools, it's just not feasible."
One of Smith's opponents, Allison Crossman, is also opposed to the project. Like Smith, she does not think it was wise to pay for the pool out of the city's general fund balance, which will now drop to just under $10 million, but she would not stop it if elected.
"We did have three elected officials that voted to move forward with the pool and in my belief, once they made that decision that is essentially the will of the people of Watertown," Crossman said. "In addition to that, I have concerns about what kinds of financial repercussions we could have for breaking the contract."
Watertown City Manager Rick Finn says his department has not looked into the costs of terminating the contract, but work on the pool has already begun.
Mayoral candidate Cody Horbacz, who voted for the pool this year while on the council, says this is a quality of life investment for the residents of Watertown.
"If you want people to live in the city of Watertown, if you want people to move here, want to live here, raise a family, here start a business here, you have to give them a reason to move here," Horbacz said. "We are competing with communities across America."
Construction on the pool is expected to finish in July.
