The Problem:

The Taylor Parks & Recreation Department is proposing a renovation of the Doris Roznovak Aquatics Center at Murphy Park.

SHRINKING THE POOL:

Unfortunately, Parks & Recreation presented only one option to Taylor City Council on February 22, 2024. That option shockingly called for shrinking the current pool size of 9,000 SF down to 7,500 SF.

Their proposed plan reduces the big pool from 8 lap lanes to 3 lanes, and it shrinks the overall water surface square footage by about 16%.

GROWING POPULATION:

Taylor’s current population is about 18,000. With the second Samsung semiconductor plant recently announced, along with the natural Austin-area growth, our population is expected to double in the near future.

This proposed pool will have a lifespan of about 20 years, and once it’s built, there are no do-overs. Also, there are currently no other public pools in Taylor.

Why are we shrinking the size of our only pool when our population is growing?

The Solution:

While the Parks & Recreation Department is currently in the pool design phase, the City Council has not yet approved the final design for construction bid. So there’s still time to fix this problem before we spend millions of dollars on this project!

POOL COST:

The pool renovation plan presented on February 22, 2024 calls for spending $5,635,880 for a smaller pool but with new amenities.

In order to expand the pool, there would need to be more bathrooms according to building code. These expansion bathrooms, along with the expanded water surface area, could add approximately $2,000,000 to the total cost.

It’s a lot of money, but for a 20-year community investment, it’s worth it.

RE-ALLOCATE PARKS FUNDS:

Thankfully, the City Council has already earmarked an additional $4,000,000 in bond funding to the Parks & Recreation Department.

If some of those additional projects can be delayed until the next round of Samsung sales tax funding comes through, along with other sources of funding, then we can afford to build a bigger pool now to accommodate future growth.

While the additional parks projects are all worthy, they are not as urgent as getting the pool right. There are no “do-overs” when you build a pool.

DON’T RUSH A BAD DESIGN:

Even if it takes longer to go back to the drawing board, we shouldn’t rush a bad design. If our pool is too small, we’ll regret it for the next 20 years.

Instead, we should go big on this community investment now. Let’s build a pool that’s larger than we currently need, and then grow into it.

ALSO REBUILD ROBINSON POOL:

Looking ahead, even if we build a bigger pool at Murphy Park, that still won’t be enough to serve our rapidly growing population.

Thus, we urge City Council to start the planning process to also rebuild and expand the Robinson Park Pool. This should be a priority for our next round of funding so families across town can easily walk/bike to a neighborhood pool — that isn’t too small and overcrowded because of an insufficient investment.

UPDATE PARKS MASTER PLAN:

This would also be a great opportunity to launch a genuine public engagement process to update our Parks Master Plan.

Whether its pool expansion, shade canopy, mini-golf, ball field improvements, playgrounds, etc., our citizens should have input on how we should prioritize the next phases of our taxpayer investments.

Had we updated Parks Master Plan last summer/fall, then we could have already conducted a healthy community conversation about pool expansions and other parks projects, and there wouldn’t be a need for this petition to reverse a bad pool design. The Master Plan was last updated in 2020, and our new infusion of $9,000,000 for pool renovation and parks projects should have been a catalyst to the update the Master Plan last year.

Our parks belong to all of us. The post-Samsung funding surge presents a historic opportunity to improve our quality of life in the parks, and we should maximize this opportunity. A legitimate online and offline public engagement process can bring our community together by providing a respectful forum for citizens to participate and make their voices heard.

Join our grassroots team!

This is a bipartisan grassroots campaign led by these co-chairs below. Our goal is to unite a growing coalition of community members to find common ground and advocate for a bigger pool!

• Susan Brock

• Gary Brock

• Stayci Roznovak-Burris

• Janetta McCoy

• Irene Michna

• Maria Newman

• Catherine Rochez

• Tim Mikeska

• Ken Flippin

• Jessi Turnbow-Cao

• Raul Ochoa

• Jake Ness

• Brenda Smith Cox

• Stephen Flores

Email us if you’d like to volunteer and help spread the word: dontshinkourpool@gmail.com.

Thanks for your support!