A pool built by Prop. 12?

Andrew Wainer

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Proposition 12, approved by voters March 7, could be

the key for Huntington Beach High School’s new aquatics complex. But

although pool supporters may have found the pot of gold at the end of the

rainbow, it could be more than a year before construction even begins,

city officials said.

Building a new complex has been a priority for the community-based Take

the Plunge campaign, which has raised more than $600,000 to build the new

pool. The school has been without a pool since the old one closed because

of its poor condition in 1991.

But in spite of the campaign’s efforts, the pool project has been stalled

for years because of the the district’s inability to procure the

remaining funds.

The new pool is expected to cost just more than $1.5 million, which was

out of reach for district and city officials until the passage of

Proposition 12.

The bond measure, which was approved by 63% of state voters, made

Huntington Beach eligible for $4 million to improve air and water

quality, improve parks and preserve open space, said Susan Roper,

Huntington Beach Union High School District superintendent.

Ron Hagan, the city’s community services director, said the city will

loan the district the needed money to complete the pool from its share of

the proposition funds.

A plan to loan the district a little less than $1 million will go to the

board of trustees and the City Council for approval next month.”The City

Council should approve the use of the funds on April 17,” Hagan said.

But Hagan said he couldn’t speculate as to when the construction of the

complex would begin, in spite of the expected quick approval by both the

city and the district.The city still has to apply to the state to acquire

the funds, and it will be awhile before anything is built over the piles

of rubble that surround the school’s old pool.

“In the fall, the state will hold a series of public hearings on the

process for submitting projects,” Hagan said. “Projects can be submitted

to the state in January 2001, so construction on the pool couldn’t begin

until July 2001.”

Hagan added that the city was working with the state to see if the

application could get early approval.

If the project does pass the long series of approvals, Hagan said the

district will have three years to pay the city back.

The proposed new influx of money didn’t come a second too soon for

members of Take the Plunge, who have publicly criticized the district for

not funding the remainder of the project.

Take the Plunge members have said the district didn’t follow through on

its commitment to help fund the pool project. But with the announcement

of possible Proposition 12 funds, the animosity has diminished.

“It looks like we are coming down to a fruitful completion of this

project for everybody,” Huntington Beach High School Foundation President

Sylvia Garrett said.

In related news, Roper announced at Tuesday’s board meeting that the

district will allocate $200,000 of its own money from county bankruptcy

reimbursement funds for the pool project.