At the request of an ad hoc pool committee of homeowners, the District has initiated a ballot proposal to allow it to issue $750,000 in bonds to finance a swimming pool to be built on property made available by the Lake Valley Golf Club. 

The Nov. 2 election ballot will contain several questions for District residents, including authorization to expand the District’s powers to include parks and recreation facilities, approval of the bond issue and an exemption from term limits for District board members. Voter approval of the first two issues will be ineffective unless the Boulder County Commissioners approve an expansion of the District’s powers, however. 

The first public hearing on the matter was held before the Boulder County Planning Commission Oct. 20, with approximately 55 people in attendance. The county staff recommended denial of the proposal due to a lack of information provided by the District as to the financial aspects of the project as well as community support of the project. The staff also noted that a complete information packet was not provided in advance of the hearing to residents. 

At the hearing, however, pool committee member Pam Malzbender provided results of a telephone survey which indicated 72 percent support for the project among 162 homeowners who had been contacted. 

Several homeowners spoke against the proposal, due to lack of or inconsistent information provided to them. Resident Saul Seinberg submitted a petition with 54 signatures opposing the project until more information could be considered. Some of the opponents actually favored construction of a pool but had concerns about financing and a potential conflict of interest by District president Mitch Galnick, who is also an owner of the Lake Valley Golf Club. 

Galnick indicated that the Club would make land available for the pool at little or no cost in exchange for the District giving first chance at outside pool memberships to golf club members. 

Once the pool is built the homeowners in the District would have the first opportunity to purchase memberships to cover operating costs. The golf members would then have the next chance to purchase memberships at a slightly higher cost before memberships, at an even higher cost, were made available to the general public. 

According to Jim Culotta of the Pool Committee, the break even point for operations was estimated to be 75 memberships. Gary Voorhis of the Pool Committee estimated a maximum capacity of 500 memberships. Details of an agreement between the District and the Golf Club have yet to be negotiated. 

Several homeowners spoke of a ten-year effort to build a pool. Although a private lake offers swimming, several mothers, including Kate Effinger were concerned about safety aspects of the lake as well as snakes in the vicinity. 

At the conclusion of the threehour hearing, the Planning Commission recommended conditional approval of the project, limiting the powers to construction of an outdoor pool and requiring the District to provide more detailed and written information before the County Commissioner’s hearing.