BOUNTIFUL -- Bountiful City officials Tuesday rejected all points of recent criticism of the proposed South Davis Recreation Center, noting that critics had failed to attend any of the extensive hearings that would have addressed their concerns.
In an answer to charges that the proposed replacement of the Bountiful "Bubble" is excessive and understudied, Bountiful Mayor Joe Johnson and City Manager Tom Hardy called the charges uninformed and unfair.
A recently formed tax-watch group calling themselves Citizens for Tax Fairness (CTF) last week told the Clipper that the movement to build a new recreation center has not been adequately studied, is too expensive and has "suddenly" popped up with little time before a special election.
Not so, say Johnson and Hardy who, both support the project. They contend that the issue has been meticulously studied, is in balance between facility demand versus price and has been on the public docket for an extended period of time.
"If these people had done their homework and participated in the process," Hardy said, "they would have had answers to their questions. They took the book (master plan for the proposed facility) home for one night. We've been studying it for two-and-a-half years."
CTF spokespersons Bill Ball, Ronald Mortensen and Hugh Williams argued that the proposed South Davis Cities Recreation Center (SDCRC) which would be owned and operated by the recently created South Davis Recreation District might be more than the community needs.
"Why can't they repair the current center?" Mortensen asked as one of many examples of excessiveness that CTF sees in the SDCRC. "At least they could look into it."
Hardy responded that the facility is well beyond acceptable repair and that such efforts have been constant, though recently in vain.
"We've been patching it for the past 10 years," Hardy said. "We've done three remodels since I've been here. We've regrouted the tile three times, redecked the pool several times, replastered and gone through four bubbles (pool covers). The pool on the deep end is sinking into the ground. And the ice sheet is not replaceable." He explained that the costs to remove the old Freon refrigeration system and reinstall a new one would not save any money. In fact, Hardy said, removing the current two-year-old ice would cause Freon leaks. "We've looked at it," he reiterated. "We've studied it."
Another concern for CTF has been the cost and timing of the August 3 special election for the SDCRC's 20-year bond. According to Johnson, the election will cost about $30,000.
Hardy argued that the timing -- CTF believes that many residents will be out of town or be too distracted for a summer vote, allowing proponents to stack the deck for the SDCRC -- is appropriate. It is not, he said, any different than the primary elections held last week which included Republican candidates for governor -- held in a summer month.
"Remember," Hardy said, "we could have simply held a Truth in Taxation hearing and raised taxes, like West Valley City, but we wanted to let the citizens decide whether they wanted it."
The estimated property tax for the $23 million SDCRC will be $36 on a $180,000 home per year within the district (Bountiful, Centerville, North Salt Lake, West Bountiful, Woods Cross). The exact tax will be set later by the recreation district's board, and the Davis County School District will pick up $5 million in exchange for guaranteed access to two basketball courts for school events. The area will also double as a large assembly area for Bountiful Junior High School and will feature separate locker rooms for students -- the armory building on the school campus will be demolished during the first phase of the SDCRC construction should voters approve the project.
The mayors for all five cities in the recreation district support the SDCRC, and a public hearing about formation of the district held before the county commissioners had 33 favorable comments and one negative comment.
Hardy strongly objected to the prominence CTF's story had in Tuesday's Clipper, comparing it to methods used by the Sierra Club and other groups who, in his words, "Waltz into the media and get coverage," rather than going through public channels of meeting with officials, public hearings and so forth. Hardy questioned whether the story shouldn't have been a letter to the editor instead.
Johnson agreed.
"Where were have they been in the past two years?" Johnson asked. "Why were they not at the public meetings?"
CTF, meantime, maintains that the SDCRC is not altogether objectionable, but that maybe a smaller facility could meet the needs of the community.
Johnson and Hardy say that the present SDCRC design is the minimum acceptable facility between the "Taj Mahal" they say has been requested and the acceptable burden for tax payers.
"We've tried to be as up front as we can," Hardy said. "and now we've got to sell this thing. We've got a job to do this next month."