FUTURE OF POOL: LATE JANUARY

By Chris Cook - Forks Forum editor

The City of Forks and the Quillayute Valley Park and Recreation District (QVPRD) are scheduling a meeting on the future of the Forks Aquatic Center.

The QVPRD is also seeking to fill three vacancies on its five-member board of commissioners.

“I would encourage the community to come out and share their concerns and ideas about how we can go forward, either alternative uses (for the Forks Aquatic Center) or, down the road, a way to reopen the pool,” Mayor Nedra Reed said of the meeting. “There’s lots of ideas and questions in the community, and this a chance for those to be heard.”
Carter said a meeting on the future of the building housing the Forks Aquatic Center on Division Street is set for Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. at a site yet to be determined.

“In the next few months the board will be making decisions on alternative uses for the pool building,” Carter said in a press release.

Carter said the community meeting in January is the same one announced by Mayor Nedra Reed following the election in November. She said it was felt the meeting should be held after the busy Christmas and New Year’s holiday season.

Voters failed to support creation of a Metropolitan Park District in the general election held in early November. Creation of the new park district would have created a junior taxing district that would have collected an annual, ongoing tax of 75 cents per $1,000 of property valuation from taxpayers within its boundaries.

The community center located adjacent to the Forks Aquatic Center is nearing completion, Carter said, and should be open by spring at the latest.

The QVPRD board is responsible for the maintenance and use of QVPRD land, the Forks Aquatic Center, the Forks Community Center and four rental homes on a plot of land near the community center that provided income for the park district.

Board chair Sandra Carter said two seats with two-year terms are open, along with one four-year term.

There was a lack of candidates in the recent general election for the QVPRD board.

Unfilled seats can also be appointed by Clallam County Commissioners, she said.

Board meetings are held twice a month.

Financial duties of the board include managing a 20-year bond that is paying off the construction of the pool building. Other financial duties include an operating agreement with the Housing Authority of the County of Clallam, an agreement in the works with OlyCap to operate senior services and other programs out of the new community center, plus the Opportunity Fund and QVPRD debt service.

Anyone living within the QVPRD may apply. The park district’s boundaries match those of the Quillayute Valley School District.

For more information call QVPRD board chair Sandra Carter at 374-7533 or send her an e-mail at scarter@reachone.com.