Pool proponents packed last Wednesday’s Waterloo Park District meeting, spelling out a common message: “Let the people vote.” 

Yet, the end of the night did not yield a clear decision on the issue. 

Instead, the park district board said the possibility of putting a property tax bond referendum for build costs, and possibly a second one for operating costs, on an election ballot would be discussed further at next month’s meeting. 

At this time, the park district board may vote on whether to sign a letter of engagement with Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, the firm Waterloo Citizens for a Pool has engaged with for pre-referendum planning. Should they sign the letter, the park district will be committing to bringing at least one referendum to the ballot – but this would be in November, not June like many pool advocates originally anticipated. 

“If you guys prefer November so that you guys could really sit down with these resources (Director of Stifel Tom Crabtree, who has been helping WCP calculate sample bond figures, and President of Westport Pools Ryan Casserly), engage them and get the exact numbers that you guys are comfortable with for November, we are here to help facilitate that,” WCP President Amy Grandcolas told the park district board. “I am very comfortable with November as long as we continue to work together in this process – this is what we’ve continued to ask for.” 

‘For the community’ 

While Grandcolas said she was OK knowing the pool could potentially be brought to the taxpayers for vote in November, some community members in attendance voiced disapproval. 

They did not want to wait any longer for their chance to vote on this topic. 

Waves of pool supporters spoke earlier last Wednesday night, testifying how the entire community could benefit from a Waterloo pool. 

Waterloo resident Mary Gardner read a statement on behalf of Carol Kealy, a longtime Waterloo resident. 

“When I first moved to Waterloo, the city pool offered an hour from noon to 1 p.m. for adult swimming. I met people at the pool who became lifelong friends. I swam laps – very poorly at first, but slowly I got better. After the pool closed, I had to find another place to swim. I’m sure that time spent in a swimming pool has enabled me to be more mobile by my 80s,” Kealy wrote. “Please consider that all ages of people can benefit from a swimming pool, a community pool, even a senior citizen.” 

Not only does swimming not discriminate based on age, it also welcomes people of all abilities. Waterloo Piranhas summer swimming team coach Andrea Kuergeleis shared this sentiment as she introduced Adrienne Wiemerslage, mother of local cancer warrior Elsa Wiemerslage. 

“My daughter was a multi-sport athlete … Because of the cancer treatment that she has received and the long road that she has had for this recovery, she (now) cannot do anything but swimming,” Wiemerslage said. “She gets in the pool and her cancer goes away. She’s just like any other child. She practices just like any other child. What I’m trying to impose is this not only is a community pool, but it will bring recreation to all people.”  

Maewyn Zarzeck, 9, was one of the youngest to address the park district board, stating the pool would benefit small businesses. 

“If we bring a pool to Waterloo, then that means people from out of town will probably want to come and swim at our pool, and then that means they will probably want to go shopping at our shops that we have in Waterloo and they’ll probably want to go to our restaurants,” Zarzeck said. 

Park district concerns

WCP proposed that a $4.5 million property tax bond referendum be brought to the ballot, which would cover their estimated building cost of the pool with a built-in contingency allotment and splash pad contribution. 

Under WCP’s plan, operating costs would be footed through an endowment fund brought by a capital campaign. 

Waterloo Park District Board Commissioner Michael Nolte and Treasurer Julie Bradley expressed concern about what would happen should the endowment not sufficiently cover annual operating costs, with Nolte showing specific concern regarding expenses he believed were not budgeted such as a manager’s salary and deferred maintenance costs.

“Should your endowment fund not go through for whatever reason, we have to cover those costs and in order to cover those costs, we have to collect an extra $625,000 a year in addition to the (approximately) $330,000 we’re currently collecting (from taxpayers),” Bradley said, drawing these figures from Nolte’s calculations. “We want to build the operating costs into the tax system.” 

Crabtree explained doing so would require an additional tax referendum question, as a single bond referendum could not include both building and operating costs. 

Grandcolas said she’s confident WCP’s endowment fund would sufficiently cover those costs as it will contribute standard expected growth, yet she understands Nolte’s hesitation. 

“WCP’s next goal is to eliminate the need for that increase (in their tax levy), and we hope to realize that goal moving forward,” Grandcolas told the Republic-Times. 

Waterloo Park District Board Vice President Shelby Mathes reiterated a concern he previously brought to the Republic-Times’ attention before WCP and its supporters last Wednesday night. Citing recent pool failures in other communities, he worried a pool in Waterloo would not garner enough community support and interest to make it successful.

“(Fenton, Missouri’s Riverchase Rec Center) is projected to lose $1.4 million, and that’s indoor, outdoor (and open) year-round … it is not being used enough to consider being there,” Mathes said. “The same thing happened with Edwardsville … they could not afford it on Edwardsville’s side because there was no use of it, there was limited use.” 

Mathes proposed the WCP circulate a petition in favor of the pool and collect signatures of half of the registered voters in the board’s taxing district. 

This would equate to roughly 4,000 signatures. 

“That’s winning the election before it’s even on the ballot!” Jason Jones Sr., a community member who spoke earlier in favor of the pool, protested. “Stop playing games.” 

Grandcolas and Mathes told the Republic-Times that this idea was essentially vacated after the meeting, with Grandcolas stating that given traditional statistical marketing research guidelines for sample sizes and that petitions to run for certain offices in the county require far less signatures, the request was “unfounded.” 

Mathes told the Republic-Times there will still need to be a petition to put it on the ballot, although the amount of signatures needed has not been set. 

Other business

The park district board also discussed the city’s proposal to put statues in at the Veterans Memorial in Lakeview Park. 

“My only complaint is that they’re all soldier guys, we don’t have any Navy guys, we don’t have any Air Force guys, and I don’t want to insult other veterans if they don’t represent their branch of service,” Waterloo Park District Board President Kevin Hahn said. 

Mathes said this is all that is available. He added the soldiers represent different wars and the City of Waterloo is footing the cost. 

After his motion was seconded, the board approved installation of the soldier statues. 

The board decided to include adding a second pickleball court at Lakeview Park in their budget, but Mathes explained after the meeting that this depends on how much money is needed for the splash pad. 

Per the rest of the board’s approval, Mathes is now working on gauging community interest in installing three pickleball courts at Koenigsmark Park. As of the meeting, the project did not have funding. Those interested in learning more can contact Mathes at 618-570-9734.