Council puts wellness center on agenda
The Hartselle City Council will likely decide whether it will move forward with a proposed $13 million wellness center at its regular meeting tonight at Sparkman Civic Center.
At a work session Monday night, the council discussed at length the wellness center or other possibilities of replacing the city’s aging pool, which will have to be repaired or replaced at the end of the season.
Mayor Dwight Tankersley, who has been investigating this issue, offered three possibilities for replacing the pool: a new $2 million pool to replace the current city pool, a $6 million aquatics center with indoor and outdoor pools and the $13 million wellness center. Of the three options, he believes the only option that could have a positive cash flow is the wellness center.
“In my opinion, the only way you can get a positive cash flow is to have the whole package,” Tankersley said. “If you try to streamline the project too much, you lose the possibility of it making money.”
Council President Kenny Thompson and Councilman Don Hall once again expressed their concern for the wellness center.
“I don’t think there’s 3,000 people who care about being healthy,” Thompson said referring to the number of people it would take to make the proposed center profitable. “If we don’t get the membership, then the city will be left to pay the debt.”
Hall also added that if the city failed to meet its membership goal, the city could potentially lose any gains that have been projected due to the economic recovery.
Councilman Bill Smelser said he is in favor of moving forward with the project, but maybe not doing the project all at one time.
“I propose that we build a $5-6 million facility along Highway 31 relocating, buildings and building tennis courts where the pool is currently located,” Smelser said. “Unlike others on the council, the majority of people I’ve talk to say they are for this.”
While Councilman Tom Chappell said he wouldn’t feel comfortable voting on this project until more questions were answered about the project.
“Before I support this, I’m going to have to have firm numbers on what this project is going to cost and whether we’ll be able to pay for it,” Chappell said.
Councilman Mark Mizell said it would be “leap of faith” to see if the city could support this center, but he also doesn’t believe that the city should build a new pool that would always lose money. Instead, he believes the city should study this project further while making a short-term decision about the current pool.
“I believe we need to go ahead and make a decision about whether we want to repair the pool right now or close it until we make a decision about the wellness center,” Mizell said.
Tonight’s meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Sparkman Civic Center.
