Some residents say city should put money on other projects instead of pool

Some residents say New Bern leaders should think twice before building the $4.2 million pool that accounts for more than half the loan the city is seeking to fund current projects.

Those residents say it would be more practical to put the money toward other city projects and instead form a partnership with another entity that already has a pool.

Nikki Ingianni, who started the Little Red Bookmobile to bring books to underprivileged children, says she can see better uses for the city's money.

"It's not that I'm against the pool, and I hadn't even planned to speak about it," Ingianni said Wednesday, the day after the aldermen's hearing on borrowing $7.6 million for city projects in progress.

"It's just that I see so many children who are educationally needy and the money for that pool could buy so much else."

With the bids in, the cost of building a city pool near West New Bern Recreation Center stands at more than a million dollars over the November estimate on the project.

Thurman Hardison, the city's recreation director, has said that the city had "soft numbers" for a while and that site work and material costs made the project go over budget. He said surveys show  that residents want a city pool.

"We've only taken the information that we got," he told the aldermen. "This is not about me at all."

Some residents think the city should try to reach an agreement with the Twin Rivers YMCA in New Bern for using its pool rather than building one at the recreation center.

"The Y's pools are often underutilized," New Bern resident Terry Startsman said Wednesday.

YMCA Director Todd Shuart said he has not had such negotiations with city leaders during his tenure here.

"I started at this YMCA about 18 months ago," he said Wednesday. "We have not had any discussion about a collaborative effort. ... In case there was misinformation, I wanted to make sure the aldermen knew that."

In 2007, the YMCA in New Bern gave free swimming lessons to 2,400 third- and fourth-graders, he said. He said that one of the "guiding principles" of the organization is to reach out and make sure that those who have needs also have opportunities.

Alderman Robert Raynor has said the YMCA is not the best option because it is a membership-based organization.

"They have to accommodate members who pay dues," he said. "A public pool is a healthy diversion that a city as progressive as New Bern should have had a long time ago. Even little Washington has a public pool."

And for Raynor, the pool is a personal project.

The New Bern native says he saw too many of his childhood friends drown because they never learned to swim.

"We're surrounded by water, and yet, we never learned," he said. "Every time I get into the water, I almost drown. I feel like I'm going to. It's my responsibility to make sure the children who come behind me do not have to feel that."

Alderman Dana Outlaw voted against the city's loan and says he, too, thinks the pool money could be better spent.

"We need parking, we have a limited maintenance budget, but we have the money for a pool," he said Wednesday.

"It ought to go to bring us economic opportunity," he said. "It ought to go to Five Points."

"You can make a survey say anything I want it to say," he said. "If you ask people if they want a pool, they might say yes, but if you ask them if they want to pay for a $4.2 million pool, they'll probably say no."

Raynor says he believes the pool is a worthy investment. He pauses for only a moment before he ticks off a list of names of children he knew who drowned.

"Knowing that I grew up here, and knowing how much we wanted a pool as children, I couldn't sit up there as an alderman and not try to get it," he said. "It wouldn't be right."