Vashon Park District commissioners voted last Tuesday to cover the Vashon Pool with a temporary bubble and make it available for year-round use starting this fall.

The 3-2 vote approved a motion that was introduced by park commissioner Bob McMahon at a meeting roughly one month ago and comes after nearly six months of back and forth between the park board and the island’s Seals swim team. The team first brought the now-approved proposal to cover the pool to the board in November.

“Our team is extraordinarily pleased that it passed and we can move forward with the next steps,” Seals President Karin Choo said Friday. “We still have to do a lot of fundraising because we’ve been limited with no approval, so we will start organizing events and preparing for some big asks.”

The Seals will purchase the $85,000 bubble from AmeriDome and cover all initial construction costs, as well as the costs of operating the bubble during the team’s practice times (10 hours per week). The Vashon Park District (VPD) will be responsible for ongoing operation and maintenance costs, including hiring and paying lifeguards, at an estimated $55,000 per year beginning in 2018. Costs this year are estimated at $13,720. The proposal assumes $61,240 in revenue from the Seals and from community lap swimmers, open swim and lessons that would occur at the pool for 22 hours each week during times the Seals are not practicing. Prices for open swim and lessons will remain the same as for the summer season.

While the proposal has been approved, McMahon’s motion qualifies the decision and allows the park district to end the covered pool if too much money is being spent. The bubble is expected to be installed in mid-October, after the swim season ends and after necessary maintenance work, including the installation of a new boiler and filter pump, repairs to the drains and ADA compliance work, is done. After four months of operation, actual revenues and operating costs will be calculated and compared with the estimates in the adopted Seals proposal. From that point forward, if at the end of any month the cost of having the facility open exceeds $68,750 — 25 percent over the estimated cost — the pool will be closed until the beginning of the regular summer season and the bubble enclosure will be removed.

The room full of more than a dozen community members, mostly Seals members or those involved in other community sports groups, erupted in applause at last Tuesday’s meeting after the vote, which only came after pressing from Seals team members and assurance from Vashon Island School District member Bob Hennessey that the community wouldn’t be barred from the pool if the Commons Agreement were to end. The park and school districts have been in negotiations since February over the agreement, which allows community use of school facilities, and last Tuesday’s meeting opened with the contentious topic.

Karen Gardner, chair of the park board, started the meeting by stating that the board has received what she called “threats” about the community being kicked off of school facilities if a new Commons Agreement isn’t negotiated by the end of June when the current one expires. These allegedly came from an email sent to community members by former VPD board member David Hackett, who was instrumental in the crafting of the current Commons Agreement. He has become involved in the current Commons Agreement issue, and in one of his emails to members of the Vashon recreation community, he says the pool sits on land owned by the school district and if the agreement ends, the status of the facility “is up in the air.”

Gardner said a decision on the pool could not be made until the board knew whether it would have access to the facility regardless of the status of the Commons Agreement.

“We had hoped to be able to vote on the pool bubble, but … again when I saw the threat that the school district may not let us on the property, not let the public to the pool, we said it would be foolish to buy a pool bubble if the school district decides we can’t use the pool,” she said. “So we said, ‘Hey, we really need to back up here.’ So we hope to have all this settled within the month.”

It was then that islander Terri Vickers, who has attended multiple recent VPD meetings and has been calling for a decision on the pool issue, pressured the board to make a move and said she was tired of the board deferring a decision.

“The Seals team approached you last November, and your survey, which you spent $30,000 on, listed as a priority for the community, to have a pool. A year-round pool,” she said. “And what it sounds to me like is you’re going to defer that decision once again and I really hope that’s not the case.”

Gardner responded by again stating that because of the “threats” to community pool access, making a decision would not be wise. But Vickers quoted last week’s Beachcomber article, in which Hennessey states public access to school facilities will not end if the Commons Agreement does.

“If you read The Beachcomber article that was posted this evening on their website, Bob Hennessey is quoted as saying we will work this out and the facilities will be available for use. Based on that statement, I hope you rethink your pool bubble decision, because, really, it’s at the top of your $30,000 survey,” she said.

Hennessey then stood up and reiterated the statement made to The Beachcomber.

“I don’t know who’s making threats on behalf of the school district, but we would never say you can’t use the pool. I think I can speak on behalf of the entire school board that … we would never forgo access to the pool,” he said.

Hackett then said he “does not speak for the school district” and was merely bringing up a point that seemed to be missed.

When asked why no members of the park board asked the school district about the so-called threats, Gardner said there was no time as Hackett’s email was sent the same day as the Tuesday meeting.

Members of the Seals team then spoke up and further pressured a vote, stating that a deposit needs to be made now if the bubble is to go up this year.

“We agreed to cap your risk,” Seals parent Karl Stenson said. “When we did the calculations, the Seals guarantee 50 percent of the revenue and to meet the number in the budget only 14 need to use the pool each day, and I think way more people will use it. ”

Gardner, McMahon and Lu-Ann Branch voted in favor. Board members Scott Harvey and Doug Ostrum were opposed.

Reached Friday, Harvey, the board’s treasurer, said the board was not planning to vote on the proposal at last Tuesday’s meeting and he believed the decision was financially unwise and required more planning on the park district’s part.

“I have no idea if this will be in the budget,” he said. “It’s a $55,000 hole that wasn’t there even last week. The park district has a really bad record about doing things they feel are urgent. I believe it would’ve happened eventually. It just should’ve been part of the strategic plan.”

He also questioned whether the decision truly represents the desires of the public or if it represents just the Seals.

Meanwhile, VPD’s Aquatics Director, Scott Bonney, expressed excitement about the year-round pool and the maintenance projects occurring before it re-opens in the fall, but said staffing and finding lifeguards to work during the public swim hours will be challenging. The pool is scheduled to be open to the public from noon to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday from October through May 2018.

“We’re going to need to have to really recruit for lifeguards,” he said, noting that there will be a lifeguarding class offered in August for those interested.

Aside from the pool decision, last Tuesday’s meeting also saw park commissioners take another step in the ongoing negotiations between them and the school board about the Commons Agreement. The park board has decided to secure an attorney to help them look at the agreement, as well as possible options and consequences.

“You elected us to re-look at stuff. Don’t blame us for wanting to change something that’s been around for 23 years,” park board member Branch said to close the discussion.

The park board will meet again at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, in the Ober Park building.

Those interested in becoming lifeguards at the Vashon Pool should contact Aquatics Director Scott Bonney at 240-7721.