City closing Drew pool for months for $1 million renovation
The Drew Wellness Center pool is about to undergo a $1.1 million renovation that will close the city’s only indoor public pool for up to six months.
City Council on Tuesday approved a nearly $744,000 contract with a Columbia company, The Clear Water Co., to replaster the pool and deck.
In addition, bids are being evaluated for a $305,000 replacement of the mechanism that circulates and dehumidifies outdoor air to control condensation, said David Knoche, who oversees city facilities.
The pool is to close soon and is scheduled to reopen sometime in late February or March, Knoche said.
Drew’s 1,800 members may use the three YMCA facilities in the area under an agreement with the Y, city officials said. The Ys are in downtown, Irmo and Northeast Columbia.
Members are to be notified soon of the changes through emails and other public announcements.
Other improvements that are part of the project include LED lighting in the pool, new lockers, better lighting along the mezzanine that overlooks the gym and repainting the rusty ceiling beams, Knoche said. The mezzanine lights may be replaced as money allows after the other upgrades have been completed, he said.
The renovations are the first major upgrades since the $8.5 million center opened in December 2005, said assistant city manager Allison Baker.
The repairs, using updated technology and materials, will return the 10-year-old recreation center to its original luster.
“For the next 25, 30 years, the city shouldn’t have to worry about it,” Knoche said.
Reach LeBlanc at (803) 771-8664.
Plaugh blocked from participating in meeting
City Council refused to let absent Councilwoman Leona Plaugh participate electronically in Tuesday’s 6 p.m. meeting.
Plaugh is in Houston undergoing continuing treatment for cancer and has previously participated electronically in council meetings. She has not cast votes during those meetings.
But Mayor Steve Benjamin said he raised the issue Tuesday because a constituent, Martha Fowler, questioned whether city law allows for a council member to participate electronically, including by phone or via Skype or FaceTime.
The mayor said he could find no law permitting such participation and said that continuing to allow the practice might be illegal without a written policy or law.
Plaugh, in texts to The State newspaper, said she has a legal opinion from city attorney Teresa Knox that she could participate. “Nothing in the code prevents you from participating via the phone/Skype but in order to vote you must be present,” Knox wrote in a July 8 email, which Plaugh released to the newspaper Tuesday.
Councilmen Cameron Runyan and Moe Baddourah wanted Plaugh to participate in Tuesday’s meeting until council could approve a formal policy that would be crafted by a committee.
Knox told council that voting Tuesday to allow Plaugh to participate immediately would be an addition to the agenda and require approval from two-thirds of members present.
Councilmen Sam Davis, Brian DeQuincey Newman and Benjamin voted to block Plaugh’s participation.
Benjamin said that despite council allowing the practice for years, “We’re in a different era, when transparency is key.”
Payment for Bull Street land approved
Council voted to draw $2.6 million from the city’s $17.2 million unassigned General Fund savings account to buy 29 acres of property in the proposed Bull Street neighborhood.
The land will be used for a city park and for roads that will surround the minor league baseball stadium. Council will repay the General Fund account once the city floats bonds that will be used for Bull Street infrastructure projects.
This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 7:04 PM with the headline "City closing Drew pool for months for $1 million renovation."