Weather postpones Walton Aquatic Park opening

The city had initially hoped to have the caulking and painting on Walton pool finished in time for the traditional Memorial Day opening. The weather had another idea.

"The contractor hopes to be done with the painting June 6, depending on the weather," JD Kehrman, city manager and interim parks director, told the Nevada Parks Board last Wednesday afternoon.

And then the paint will need to cure for six or seven days before the city can begin filling the pool.

"The contractor is doing everything he can to complete the work. He's only missed 13 days due to weather," Kehrman said, adding that the contractor had even worked on several weekends to make up for the rainy weather.

"We're looking at opening a couple of weeks late," he said, adding that the painting and caulking can only be done this time of the year so it can cure.

"It will be at least June 13 before they can start filling the pool," he said.

When the city knows how many days of the season will be lost due to the delay in opening, Kehrman said, the city will adjust the price on pool passes accordingly.

The painting and the caulking should have been done several years ago and when the problem was discovered it was to the point it was threatening the integrity of the pool, he told the parks board.

Part of the difficulty in projecting how long it will take to complete the work lies in the fact that there can be no moisture present in the concrete when it is painted. If the concrete is not completely dry, the paint, which is very expensive, will not properly adhere and it will have to be removed and the process started again.

Kehrman told the parks board that it will take three coats of paint to finish the project and the paint cannot wait for more than seven days between coats, or the contractor will have to go back and rough up the surface so the next coat will adhere.

Kehrman said that the contractor had started the painting and had completed about 1 1/2 coats, when it rained and delayed the painting beyond the seven day window.

He told the parks board that this work must be done every 10 years and it should have been done a couple of years ago. However, there was no money available in the budget for the work.

That was the situation this year as well, but he said the city council was willing to appropriate additional money to cover the cost of this work and other park maintenance.

"This is an example of why annual maintenance needs to be done. It's another reason the tax is important," he said.

The lack of available money was the reason for the lack of maintenance -- not the lack of will, he told the board.

The city's current 1/2 cent parks sales tax brings in about $700,000 per year, but can only be used for specific capital improvement projects.

That money cannot be used to pay for necessary annual maintenance.

The money to cover annual maintenance comes from the city's general fund, which also funds the police and fire departments, as well as other city operations; and needs of departments often compete for funding.