Austin Adopts Aquatics Plan, Urges $124M Bond Vote
The Austin City Council approved the Parks and Recreation Department’s Aquatics Master Plan that recommends asking voters to approve $124 million in bonds to build new municipal pools, upgrade existing pools and maintain all city pools.
The aquatics plan calls for ranking all city pools to determine which ones are in poor shape, which are recommended for closure and whether to build new pools, said Cara Welch of the Aquatics Department. The rankings will be based on condition and attendance at each pool.
Over a dozen city pools are expected to fail within the next five years. A task force appointed by the council has recommended closing 10 pools based on funding maintenance for deterioration and water leaks. The plan also proposes an option to build 5 new pools in underserved communities at a cost of $57 million.
