The City of Mount Vernon has named Waters Edge Aquatic Design of Lenexa, Kansas, as the consultant running the pool feasibility study.
There were more than five organizations who submitted bids for the City of Mount Vernon for the feasibility study. Mount Vernon city administrator Chris Nosbisch said the bids were competitive, with three to four organizations in the range of $50,000 from one another.
Nosbisch said that Waters Edge blew the competition out of the water with their preparation and discussion for a second interview with the committee.
The feasibility study for the city will be to determine if the city builds a new pool, renovates the existing facility, if it’s advised to keep a pool in the current location or move the pool to a different location and if the city were to go with an indoor facility or outdoor pool.
“One of the reasons I recommended this organization, is they could show the revenues you can expect for the size of your pool compared to the costs and employee costs and water loss to get you a picture of what to expect to operate the pool,” Nosbisch said.
Waters Edge Aquatic Design has partnered a lot on past OPN Architect projects as well.
Mount Vernon mayor Tom Wieseler said his concern with choosing Waters Edge would be if they were biased towards building a new project compared to just doing a feasibility study.
Nosbisch said that would not be the case, as the committee does feasibility studies as well as design projects.
“One of the strengths for Waters Edge was the pool facilities they design, so that is truly a strength of them as doing this study,” Nosbisch said.
The next phase will be for Waters Edge to get community feedback for the feasibility study, which Nosbisch said is going to be key for the project.
“There’s no way we can tackle a new pool without community support, as it’s going to be a project we’re going to have to bond for,” Nosbisch said.
The city will also have to engage with Cornell College and the Mount Vernon and Lisbon Schools if the project moves forward, especially if an indoor facility is one that is recommended, as swim teams could be a big draw for any such facility moving forward.
Mount Vernon council member Scott Rose said the last pool was built more than 50 years ago, so this investment could be looked at as a 50-year investment for the community.
“I view this as a facility my future grandkids will be using in the future,” Rose said.