Saline City Council Approves Contract for Rec Center Repairs

Saline City Council approved a contract with Boone & Darr, Inc. for repair and installation work at the Saline Rec Center at their May 5 meeting. Work done will focus on replacement of the HVAC system at the center, which has required continual repairs in recent months and has been running for five years longer than its projected lifespan.

“Our temporary repairs are not holding as we had expected, and the risk of extended downtime grows with each passing week,” City Manager Elle Cole said. “The Aquatic Center is such a vital part of our community. It’s relied on by individuals and families of all ages. It is essential for swim instruction, therapeutic exercise, lap swimming and recreational use. Replacing this unique and valuable asset is essential to preserving this facility and maintaining public access to programs that support health, safety and wellness throughout our community.”

The HVAC system has been experiencing significant issues since the fall of 2023, and in Feb of this year it suffered a “critical failure” according to the City Council’s meeting agenda. The repairs and replacement currently being proposed would hopefully present a longer-term solution. According to Cole and Parks & Rec Director Sunshine Lambert, the need to begin repairs is urgent.

“In my professional opinion, and knowing what we’ve gone through for all these years, we can’t wait any longer,” Cole said.

Several council members expressed frustration at the lack of progress previous attempted solutions have made, along with a lack of results from the group assigned to be looking into these issues after a previous year’s study.

“We should have done this when we sat down in a little circle over two years ago and talked about the outcome of the study and what the vision was for the Rec Center,” councilmember Nicole Rice said. “I’m mind-boggled by why that didn’t turn into some decision making or a task force.”

Councilmember Dean Girbach raised concerns about the Rec Center needing more repairs in addition to the work being contracted, which have not been budgeted for.

“We have pushed this down for four years,” Girbach said. “This council has failed to deal with this issue. I’ve been talking about this issue since 2020, so I don’t know how we can’t postpone this for three more months to actually address it.”

Girbach put forward a motion to postpone the decision on contracting and financing until Aug 4 so the council could review further options. The motion received a second, but failed 2-5.

“I do not disagree with my colleague Mr. Girbach,” Rice said. “However, I do not feel that we should risk the complete destruction of our rec center by letting the system fail.”

After a little over an hour of discussion, the motion to approve the contract carried 5-2.