Sioux Falls Parks and Rec

Throwing the baby out with the pool water

l3wis February 8, 2015 10Comments

First meeting from September 9, 2014 then the one from February 2, 2015. Boy how the answers and numbers have changed in a few short months.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3muZZoAmQb0[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyNyAQ0G5PU[/youtube]

Separating Fact from Fiction when discussing the Indoor Pool

l3wis January 28, 2015 7Comments

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcAi5Onx0oM[/youtube]

“Anyone entrusted with power will abuse it if not also animated with the love of truth and virtue no matter whether he be a prince, or one of the people.” Jean De La Fontaine

City Hall, City Directors, City Councilors and certain people in the media seem to be parroting the half-truths about the indoor pool, and they are spreading like wild fire and it hasn’t even been 24 hours since the aquatic update.

FICTION: The city continues to tell us this is being paid for with ‘CASH’ on hand.

FACT: We are using money from a repayment from the Feds on a bond we took out for levees. We will still have to pay back this bond in a few years. So while we may have ‘cash’ on hand from the repayment, we are using ‘borrowed’ money to pay for the pool. Ironically there was a story in the Argus today about those bonds and levees, just no mention of the indoor pool.

FICTION: The city says the increase in price is due to adding a therapy pool and larger recreational pool from the original drawings.

FACT: The therapy pool was in the original drawings, and the rec pool is the same size, but what HAS changed is that the slides, current pool and outdoor patio have been scaled back.

FICTION: There has been a ‘slight’ increase in price.

FACT: An almost 17% increase in the price of the facility isn’t a slight increase on a multi-million dollar project, it is substantial.

FICTION: The project manager tells us the cost estimates were off before the vote because they just didn’t have the projections.

FACT: The city spent $46,000 on architectural drawings before the election to help project the cost. The drawings may have also been a violation of state law by presenting advocational presentations that swayed the vote.

FICTION: People voted for an indoor pool by voting against the outdoor pool. This statement was made by the city’s finance director and the Argus today.

FACT: There was no ‘indoor pool’ on the ballot.

FICTION: The quit claim deed doesn’t matter.

FACT: We are not sure if it does or not, because the city has made zero attempt to get a MOU from the VA about building the new indoor pool. At the last Listening & Learning session the mayor went as far as pretending he didn’t know what it was.

I’m all for moving ahead with this project, but let’s be honest and transparent in our intentions.

Surprise! Surprise! Plans have changed on the Indoor Pool

l3wis January 27, 2015 15Comments

I haven’t even watched the presentation yet (PDF: poolpart) but changes to the pool are already in the process. Funny how the committee was able to come up with these recommendations in one week 😉

As you can see, the plans we were shown before the Spellerberg vote have been scaled back (Surprise!) We said all along that the advocational presentations were just ‘fluff’ to get people to vote against the outdoor pool.

This is what we were shown before the vote (click to enlarge) the only ‘increase’ in square footage comes in the additional activity rooms, they scaled back on the outdoor part and something else missing is the exterior drawings with the new plan.

You can also see, it’s going to cost almost $4 million more then what we have been told (Surprise #2). They are claiming the price went up because of ‘time’. Funny, a $4 million increase in less then a year . . .

What we haven’t been told is if the city got a MOU from the VA on the quit claim deed. During the meeting though councilor Anderson questioned the lack of transparency to the mayor sharing these changes to the council. The mayor’s response was classic, kill the messenger, he asked where Kenny’s plans were.