By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
The City of Elkhorn is looking to replace the mat at the bottom of the slide at Sunset Pool’s splash pad, but at a cost of nearly $9,000, that won’t happen without looking at reviews and other possible options.
At Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, Department of Public Works Operations Manager Matt Lindstrom said the edges of the mat started to tear where it’s attached to the pool during the latter part of last season. At that time, the department used washers to fasten it, though he doesn’t think the fix will last this season.
While the mat is still in usable shape where children ire on it, he said with the fastening system failing it’s difficult to keep it from detaching and floating up from the bottom of the pool.
“So, to avoid closing the slide altogether, we should look at a new mat,” he said.
According to Lindstrom, a new mat would need to be installed before the City fills the pool, likely in May, as there’s an adhesive that needs to be applied between the mat and the bottom of the pool as part of the installation.
Lindstrom said quotes were received from two companies, Carrico Aquatics and Neuman Pools, both coming in at nearly $9,000 for a 10-foot by 10-foot mat. According to a memo provided to Councilmembers, Carrico had the lowest bid at $8,792, with Neumann coming in at about $8,818. The cost would include the purchase, delivery and installation of the mat.
However, with prices from only two companies, Councilmembers weren’t to eager to jump on board just yet.
Alderman Scott McClory recommended the city at least attempt to look at other vendors and talk to other municipalities that have pools before purchasing the mat.
“That just seems so outrageous,” McClory said.
Lindstrom said he could certainly get more quotes and check with other municipalities to see if there’s other option, but said when you get into specialized items such as the mat, prices can be higher.
He also said the city has a good relationship with Carrico, and he believes if there was a more affordable option the company would have let them know.
Recreation Director Karl Sorvick also noted that Carrico is likely the most trusted company in the area, and used heavily by the City of Waukesha and City of Jefferson when he worked for those communities.
“Waukesha’s a fairly big community with many pools and they have a contract with them, too,” Sorvick said.
Alderman Ron Dunwiddie, who works at Grand Geneva Resort, noted that Carrico handles all pool maintenance at the resort, and Neuman redid one of the resort’s villa pools this past year.
While City Administrator Sam Tapson said staff could look into other options but realistically there is only one more Council meeting prior to May and they need to start getting the pool ready for the upcoming season.
“That means that next Monday night you are going to have to make a decision one way or another or you’re going to kind of be outside of the window of opportunity,” Tapson said.
While the idea of purchasing the mat and having the City install it was suggested to save on cost, Tapson said by having Carrico install it, it shifts liability to the company.
“The risk then transfers to some degree,” Tapson said. “They’re the installer – not the City – and if there’s a problem later, you have somebody to go to.”
Councilmembers agreed that if waiting one more week to make a decision won’t affect the opening of the pool, and will allow staff to gather more information, that’s the best plan.
