Swim Center To Get Long-Awaited Repairs

Santa Clara’s George Haines International Swim Center (ISC) will finally get the facelift many have been waiting for since its closure early last year.

At the Santa Clara City Council’s meeting Tuesday night, the council approved allocating $10 million for more comprehensive improvements to the ISC.

In June last year, the council approved $1.86 million for pool replastering and addressing safety concerns as a stop-gap to reopen the pool for use. However, after that work got underway, the contractor, Adams Pool Solutions, discovered several other issues, delaying the project further and pushing up the cost.

Council Member Kevin Park said the city’s inattention to maintenance brought the situation to this. He added that a bond measure should have never been needed.

“If we had done our basic work, none of this would be necessary,” he said.

With the passing of the city’s infrastructure bond, more than $40 million has been earmarked for the ISC.

City Manager Jovan Grogan told the council that the recommendation essentially merged the council’s desire for a short-term solution with a long-term vision.

The improvements will be made in two phases. The first of which aims to get all the necessary repairs to get the pool back online as soon as possible, while the second phase will address other issues, such as getting the dive tower operational and plumbing and electrical repairs.

Grogan said the work plan has the project on a 34-month schedule, with a possibility to shorten that schedule by as much as a year, depending on several variables. The city will continue to negotiate what the various groups that use the pool will pay going forward, he added.

The money from the city’s land sale reserve and capital project reserve will pay for the project.

City Attorney Glen Googins said the goal is to have bond measure money reimburse those costs, adding that the expenditure is “bread and butter.”

The Santa Clara Swim Club supported the project.

Kevin Zacher, coach of the club, said the group may have envisioned the pool differently, but the club supports whatever option gets them back in the water soon.

“Us not having a facility to train has been quite a hardship, and this is the quickest path for us to get back to a stable place at the ISC,” he said.

The council unanimously supported the work.

Council Member Suds Jain called it a “great effective use of money.”

Vice Mayor Kelly Cox said the option was one where “everybody’s needs are met.”

City Still Seeking Applicants For Bond Oversight Committee

On a similar note, the council also approved appointing a bond oversight committee. The nine-member committee will consist of a candidate from each council district, one at-large member, a member from a large business and another from a small business.

The committee’s role is to inform the public, monitor the expenditure plan and provide input on the proposed plan. Money from issued bonds must be spent within three years of bond issuance.

Vice Mayor Kelly Cox said the lack of requirements for applicants concerned her.

“We are really talking about huge sums of money, so bringing people in with no background in that economic development piece of it, the infrastructure, which means we are doing a significant amount of training for people without this background or we can hit the ground running,” she said.

Council Member Kevin Park joined her concern, saying he would like to see more public outreach.

City Attorney Glen Googins said, in addition to Brown Act training, committee members would get trained on bond matters.

But others on the council didn’t see it as an issue.

Council Member Suds Jain said having ordinary people on such a committee has worked for other audit committees. There will be “plenty of professional oversight,” he added, including a professional auditor and city employees who will be involved in the process.

Council Member Albert Gonzalez agreed, saying such requirements will disenfranchise potential applicants.

“Limiting it to certain qualifications would be very, very detrimental to the transparency we are trying to get and limit some of the access that residents that should be on the committee might not be able to serve,” he said.

The city will use a lottery system to select from the pool of applicants, selecting an alternate for each seat.

City Manager Jovan Grogan said projects will fall into three broad categories: those that are design ready, those that require conceptual design before work can begin and those that need planning and feasibility studies before design can begin.

In a 6-1 vote, the council approved the selection process for the committee. Only Park dissented.

The work plan for phase one of the bond issuances will come before the council in July.

The council is still seeking applicants for positions on the bond oversight committee.

Consent Calendar Spending

The council approved the following spending in one motion via the consent calendar:

• A $5 million purchase order with “vendors” for “steel structures” at Silicon Valley Power’s northern and Kifer receiving stations.

• A $538,436 increase to an agreement with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. for a renewable energy microgrid feasibility study and design to expand the scope to include the city’s emergency operations center, extending the contract by two years. Total contract amount is now $1 million.

• A $212,174 increase to an agreement with N. Harris Computer Corporation for upgrade and replacement of a billing system. Total contract is now $770,447.

• A $2.85 million contract with Bear Electrical for Tasman Drive streetlight replacement.

The next regularly scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 22 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.

Members of the public can participate in the City Council meetings on Zoom at https://santaclaraca.zoom.us/j/99706759306; Meeting ID: 997-0675-9306 or call 1 (669) 900-6833, via the City’s eComment (available during the meeting) or by email to PublicComment@santaclaraca.gov.

Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com.

Previous City Council Meetings:
Santa Clara Adds to Housing Stock, Council Approves Nearly 2K Apartments
Stadium Authority Approves Budget With Contentious Item Removed
Council Narrowly Approves Bike Lane Road Modifications