Safety concerns keep swimmers out of pools

The Carson City Aquatic Facility is finished - eight months late - but safety concerns are keeping swimmers from using the pools.

Carson City Parks and Recreation Director Steve Kastens said Wednesday he is withholding about $387,000 from contractor American General Development until issues over shoddy construction work are solved. The deficiencies in the work may cause the city to seek legal action against American General.

The outdoor pool at the aquatic facility sits almost empty of water. The new 86-foot long water slide is collecting dust rather than sending children splashing into the pool.

The jets in the new therapy pool bubble under the water but nobody is allowed in the warm water.

The pools were supposed to open over Memorial Day weekend, but the dispute with American General over the quality of work on the $3.76 million facility has postponed the opening day again.

John Sieben, owner of American General, did not return several phone calls Wednesday.

"We're getting to the critical point where we're losing revenue," Kastens said. "All I know is I've got what I consider a safety problem. There are enough issues relating to safety that we can't allow people to come in here. We'd be asking for it."

Kastens said the therapy pool was supposed to be open April 1. The outdoor pool and slide were to open last weekend. He estimates about $4,000 in revenue has been lost so far because the pools aren't open.

Problems at the center aren't glaring, but they cause Kastens enough concern to worry the work could be dangerous to patrons.

Kastens kicked at a raised edge on the therapy pool Wednesday. The plans for the pool say the concrete deck should be level with the edge of the pool. In some areas it is level; in others, it isn't.

Concrete work on a handicap ramp going into the pool is crooked, and the handrail along the ramp is 9 inches higher than plans called for. A handicap lift into the pool wobbles at a touch.

"If you paid someone to do this in your home, would you accept it?" Kastens said.

The water slide is the main concern at the outdoor pool. Some section edges on the slide are higher than others, which makes the slide unsafe.

"If you hit that with a partially bare bum, that's going to smart," Kastens said of a raised edge.

Kastens said the contract called for the slide manufacturer to inspect and offer a five-year warranty on the slide. Kastens said until he has that warranty, he won't open the slide.

The covered, 50-meter pool is open to swimmers, but air ducts surrounding the inner edges of the building aren't level with the floor and duct tape covers the joints to protect swimmers' feet from sharp edges.

"This is a $3.7 million facility, we shouldn't have to duct tape edges," Kastens said.

The problems with the pool are being examined by a mediator in an attempt to avoid litigation. Architect Mike Mitchell said he doesn't see huge stumbling blocks to resolving the dispute. He said most of the problems lie in the interpretation of the project contract.

"I am not giving them a legal, strict interpretation of the documents," Mitchell said. "I'm offering a common-sense approach to try and help them solve their differences."

Deputy District Attorney Neil Rombardo said the city hasn't decided what it will do to settle the matter but is trying to stay out of court. Two options are being considered if Mitchell's attempt to work through the issue fails.

Rombardo said the city may decide to terminate the contract and sue for liquidated damages for failure to complete the project on time. The second option would be for the city to take over the supplies for the project and finish it with a different contractor.

The Aquatic Facility, the first large Quality of Life initiative project, was supposed to be completely done in September 1999. Delays mostly due to bad weather pushed the completion of the first phase of the project into November and pushed the $3.6 million price tag up by $160,000.

Phase II was expected to be finished by Jan. 31, and then the first part of February. After more weather and construction delays, the date moved to March 31. Kastens said the work still isn't done.

Phase I of construction at the facility included enclosing the 50-meter pool, work on outside heating and air conditioning and the reconfiguration of the dressing rooms. Phase I of the project went beyond its original deadline by 128 days and was finished in late October 1999.

Phase II included the demolition of the building surrounding the old indoor pool, construction of a therapy pool and building around the pool, a slide for the 25-yard pool and reconstruction of the facility's mechanical room.