Council avoids vote on Aquatic Center

Columbus Council stepped away Tuesday from a decision on whether to approve a contract with a private pool operator to take over the aquatic center.

Faced with a proposal to approve an $825,000 contract with a suburban Atlanta company, which would cut the hours of operation from 89 a week to 45, council voted to remove the issue from the table.

“I’m not going to vote for 45 hours,” Councilor Pops Barnes said. “I’m just not going to do it.”

American Pool Service of Georgia bid $1.27 million to operate the facility for 89 hours, but the company could operate it for 45 hours at the current level.

Mayor Teresa Tomlinson said they would bring the proposal back to council next week at a work session.

There was no need for a vote on the proposal because there were only six councilors present at the time of the presentation, so one objection would have meant an inconclusive vote.

Councilors Judy Thomas, Bruce Huff, Tom Buck, Glenn Davis, Evelyn Turner Pugh and Barnes were present. Councilors Skip Henderson, Mike Baker, Gary Allen and Mimi Woodson were absent.

The Columbus Aquatic Center broke ground in late 2011 and opened in summer 2013. But as the aquatic center was under construction, newly hired Parks and Recreation Director James Worsley told city leaders they had not allocated enough money to operate the facility. He estimated the full cost would be about $1.2 million.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 9:11 PM with the headline "Council avoids vote on Aquatic Center."