The City of Crookston has issued this letter explaining what repairs are taking place at the Crookston Community Swimming Pool, what costs are associated, and where the funds are coming from for the repairs.
Thanks to generous donations from Fin & Fit Crookston and Crookston community members, the Crookston Community Swimming Pool is moving forward with the necessary mechanical repairs needed for operation. The repair timeline for the Crookston Community Swimming Pool starts back in April after we had to make the unfortunate announcement that the pool needed to close temporarily due to the pool’s aquifer shutting down, which is needed to keep comfortable water temperatures for our swimmers.
During the April 21st city council meeting, it was identified that this repair was in the amount of $17,800 for the heat exchanger repair. Fin and Fin was in attendance and generously donated $10,000 to go towards the repairs needed for operational repairs. With the donation, the repair to the heat exchanger was approved, leaving a remaining balance of $3,340 in the pool maintenance budget.
During the May 19th city council meeting, there was a discussion that identified that while the repair to the heat exchanger was being conducted, an inspection noted that the relief valve, as well as the control box and circuit board, were no longer functioning and needed to be replaced. Relief valve repair was estimated at $400, the control box parts estimate was at $5,700, and the circuit board parts estimate was between $500-600 in addition to a float in the boiler that needed to be replaced with repair estimate between $1,800-$1,900. The question being proposed to the council was how to best move forward.
Including the $10,000 donation from Fin & Fin, total repairs would come out to $30,600 year to date, or roughly $5,500 over budget. At this time, there is $8,900 remaining in the building maintenance fund for the pool which is separate from the pool repair budget. A discussion was had of moving the necessary funds needed from the building fund to the repairs fund to make necessary repairs. The consensus from the council was to move forward and order parts for the repair.
After consensus to move forward, a special city council meeting on May 27th was held due to additional piping repairs in the amount of $6,430 additional to what has been approved. The current pool building and maintenance budget to this point is a collective $3,000. When the heat exchanger was being installed, it was identified that three sections of piping would need to be replaced to install the new equipment and have solid connections with the welds to connect existing pipes with new pipes.
Options such as reallocation from other city accounts were discussed, and there was public comment during the meeting, but the council decided in a vote not to move forward due to the repairs bringing the pool over the 2025 budget with this authorization. The city charter identifies 5 council members to vote yes to move forward with a resolution, and the vote was four yeses, one no, and one abstained from voting.
During the June 2nd council meeting, it was identified since the Special City Council meeting that Fin and Fit as well as several residents were in support of the repairs, maintaining pool operations, and were willing to donate the necessary funds. There was a request from the council to add to the agenda to host a discussion. During the discussion, it was identified that there were additional repairs needed for a cracked flange connection resulting from no support brackets being installed when the piping was originally installed.
The estimate is $2,495 for the repair and $1,295 to install pipe hangers. $10,170 was needed up to this point to make necessary repairs to the pool with only $3,000 in the combined repair and building maintenance budget for the pool, and Fin & Fit and other community members have generously donated the funds needed to make the necessary repairs. The consensus was made by city council to move forward.
Parks & Rec are moving forward with the repairs needed and the Crookston Community Swimming Pool will be open again very soon. Keep an eye out for a follow up announcement confirming a reopening date for the pool.
