EDITORIAL: Aquatics committee must remain focused on greater goal

Published 2:39 pm Tuesday, September 25, 2018

It’s been about eight months since the Baldwin County Aquatics Committee was charged with researching and formulating a plan for establishing a public recreational water facility for the local community. 

Nearly eight months in, and while the committee has announced its recommendation for a location, neither the community nor county officials have been presented with a solidified plan. 

Even with a recommended location, we are still left guessing what the facility will look like, how much it will cost, how it will be funded and what the timeline for construction will be. With that in mind, it should come to little surprise that county commissioners say they need more answers from the committee in order to give the committee the vote of confidence members desire.

Obviously, those serving on this committee took on the role because they are passionate about seeing this project through. That makes it difficult to do the necessary work and accept critiques and outside skepticism without personalizing the issue. While that might be challenging — it’s necessary — and the only way this project will come to fruition.

Committee chairman Jason Arnold’s “honest assessment” presented at last Tuesday’s commission meeting did little to move that needle forward. 

Everyone involved in this process must keep in mind that the goal of forming a committee, to begin with, was to bring a cross-section of local people together with the ultimate goal of creating a safe, quality aquatics facility so that younger generations can learn to swim and everyone can enjoy it.

If that remains the focus, then multiple sectors of the community across the board will reap the benefits should they so choose — no matter their race, gender, age or socio-economic level. 

In order to get there, the committee must present concrete numbers and a more structured timeline to county officials. At this point, it would simply be fiscally irresponsible for county commissioners to vote to support an aquatics facility without more fully exploring construction costs and estimated annual cost of upkeep. 

Will there be any form of revenue generated to help offset the cost of maintaining this facility?

Has the committee formed a recommendation on what the aquatics facility will be — a splash pad, an indoor or outdoor pool or a water park? 

These are all factors that affect the bottom line, and based on Tuesday’s presentation to county commissioners, they have yet to be fully presented. 

If the aquatics committee needs a more specific directive from commissioners, then they should say so and commissioners should provide one.

Rehashing whys, hows, what should have been, and what could have been doesn’t bring the local community any closer to an aquatics center. Instead, it alienates rather than unites the community behind this effort, while also risking the possibility of turning off potential public and private partnerships that could provide outside financial backing and support.

The Baldwin County Aquatics Committee needs to stay focused on its overall objective and provide some solid information to county officials to keep this project moving forward.