Marble Hill holds hearing about future of pool property

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Residents interested the future of the Larma Wiseley Pool were asked Monday what they would like to see the property become.

The park board has agreed to turn the building over to the city administration, and several people offered suggestions at a board of aldermen meeting.

The fire department has requested the city allow it to turn the property into a police and fire training facility. Fire Chief Jim Bollinger said if it's used for another reason, he's fine with that.

Debbie Lincoln, who works with underprivileged families, asked it be used as a laundry. When children have head lice, she said, families need a place to go to wash clothing and bedding.

Alderman Kenneth Trentham suggested moving the senior center there. The current senior center, he said, is no longer adequate.

"I am in favor of the fire department, but my concern is that the building be used for the community," Trentham said.

Some want the property to remain a pool to be used for therapy and recreation. Several residents emphasized the need for a place for children to have "something to do."

Judy Rhodes disagreed.

"I am all for kids," she said. "We have had I don't know how many teen towns here. ... They don't last. Kids don't want to come, and it's like going to the pool."

If the pool were transformed into a community center or another use, Hendricks asked, would the community support a special tax to pay for its upkeep if it couldn't generate enough of its own revenue?

The city received the proceeds from the Wiseley trust -- $768,683 -- in 1991. The pool was not built until 1996.

In that time gap, Lutes said, "there was a joyous time in the community; a lot of lawyers wrote letters back and forth."

There was discussion about how some residents wanted to use the trust money. City attorney Alan Beussink explained the trust said only that Wiseley wanted the city to build a pool but not an Olympic-sized pool, as has been rumored. She wanted it built in Pellegrino Park, but Lutes said engineering studies determined it was not be feasible there. Instead, the pool was built on land the city owned.

Some wanted to build a city hall and community center. Lawyers got involved with that suggestion, Lutes said, including attorneys for the American Cancer Society, who argued, according to the trust, any money not used for the pool would be donated to the cancer society. The ACS sued to protect its interest in the trust fund.

After the pool opened, the pool lost $23,735 annually, according to the figures the city provided.

Jeff Eftink, who has worked as an accountant for the city, said he was involved with the pool trust fund during that time. It was when federal revenue sharing was available to augment public budgets, and interest rates on certificates of deposit were at 15 percent, he said.

"They had enough money to build the pool and thought the interest would subsidize the operation of it," Eftink said. "It did not bring in the revenue. The pool was not used as much as they thought it would be. As a consequence, it lost money every year."

Revenue sharing dried up, interest rates plummeted, and the only thing that stayed the same was the pool was not used enough to generate enough income to break even. And expenses continued to grow.

Rumors of misuse of pool funds have floated around since it opened, but Lutes said when he compared engineering estimates to the costs, "it was pretty even."

The pool, which has been closed since 2013, continues to drain the trust fund with maintenance costs. The balance at the end of 2014 totaled $6,201, according to city's figures. To repair the empty bath house this fiscal year most likely will deplete the fund or exceed it.