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Published: Monday, January 8, 2007

City to try again for North Pool bids

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The city will advertise for the North Pool job later this month.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

CITY HALL REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — The city's going to take the plunge for the third time in an attempt to find a company to build a new North Pool.

The city's park and recreation commission received no proposals by an Oct. 3, 2006, deadline to build the pool. The plans were revised to include an alternative way to construct the facility to make it more attractive to contractors. The commission received no proposals by the Nov. 9, 2006, deadline in its second attempt to find a company to construct the pool.

At Mayor Jay Williams' request, the commission and ES&C International, the Youngstown company serving as the pool project's engineer, had Carmen S. Conglose Jr., deputy director of the city's public works department, review the plans.

The alternative option to construct the pool's walls called for contractors to use a more traditional method of pouring concrete.

The original plan had the wall's concrete to be installed through a method that has the mix blown through a machine, similar to blowing insulation.

The alternative option required those seeking the work to hire an engineer to design the pool walls, something that would cost contractors money for a job they weren't guaranteed to get, Conglose said.

"It put the burden on contractors" causing none of them to submit proposals for the work, he said.

Changes

The city will provide the pool wall designs during the third bidding process later this month, Conglose said. Also, the proposal will emphasize the alternative option, primarily because local companies don't use the method in the original plan, he said.

The changes will attract companies to the job, Williams said. "The bids needed to be more specific on the changes," he added.

But John Evan, ES&C's vice president and senior manager, said besides emphasizing the alternative option, the pool wall design changes in the third proposal are minimal compared with the second.

"It was a small item," he said. "... Most of the designs are already there."

If only a minimal change was made, how can this proposal attract companies?

"There is no clear answer," Evan said. "It's that simple. It's hard to answer that. [The changes are] a few drawings and some contract language was revised. We need to just modify the plans."

Determined

Williams said not building a new pool is not an option and he expects it to be done by the beginning of the summer swimming season in mid-June.

The new project specifications for the pool should be done shortly, and the city will advertise to seek companies to do the job later this month, Evan said.

About 45 days of good weather are needed for construction of a new pool.

"The objective of the bidding is to get [the pool] done before the summer," Evan said. "That's up to the weather and the contractor."

The 68-year-old pool on Belmont Avenue was demolished last spring because it was losing water. A new pool was scheduled to open before last year's swimming season started, but changes in the project's scope and the lack of proposals for the facility led to delays.

Without the North Pool, the only public swimming pool in Youngstown this past summer was Borts Pools on Bella Vista Avenue on the West Side. But a hole in a tank there forced Borts to close for 22 days beginning July 15 during the warmest part of the year.

The North Pool project is expected to cost about $1.05 million total. The city already has spent more than $150,000 to demolish the old pool and its storage tanks and pipes and to replace the bathhouse roof.

skolnick@vindy.com

Monday, January 8, 2007