No pool party at Bud Kearns this summer, kids

Kathy Taylor watched her eight-year-old son blossom after joining the swim team at Bud Kearns Municipal Pool last summer. Her son was excited about being on the swim team again this summer…but the "Closed Until Further Notice" sign on the door to the Morley Field pool in February put a damper on that.

In May, councilman Todd Gloria posted to Facebook that the pool would open in July. He then posted in July that the repairs were taking longer than expected and the pool would open August 10.

When that deadline passed, Taylor sought to find out why the date kept changing. Everything she saw at the worksite remained the same, including the dirt pile, the trench, and the dusty pile of pipes.

On August 17, Adrian Granda from Gloria's office directed Taylor to county supervisor Ron Robert's office for answers. Jeanette from Roberts’s office wasn't aware of the pool issue and directed Taylor back to Gloria's office.

That same day, Taylor created the "Fix Bud Kearns Pool" Facebook page so the community could address the issue together.

Eileen Gianola, a city “supervising recreation specialist,” told Taylor that scheduled maintenance in February revealed that old age and calcification had rendered the eight-inch capacity pipes down to two inches. Timothy Graham, a city PR officer, said that upon discovering the drainage problem, steps were immediately taken toward starting the drain-line repair.

On May 20, the city issued a $149,000 purchase order to California Commercial Pools (Cal-Com) to replace the main drain (Phase I). The expected delivery date was June 30.

Per Graham, the only part of the project completed to date is the demolition and removal of the existing main drain plumbing. While Graham states there have been no unexpected issues or delays, Roberts’s office has blamed Cal-Com for delays. Cal-Com did not return calls for comment.

Vicki Granowitz of the North Park Planning Committee pointed to one possible reason for the delays. The pool's original parts are from the 1930s. She knows from experience how challenging it is to find replacement parts.

Liz Pozzebon from the County Department of Environmental Health said the agency asked Cal-Com for revisions to their initial plan on August 6. The department was expecting Cal-Com's revised plan by August 19. Cal-Com missed the deadline. Andy Field of San Diego Parks and Recreation said the county department is now working with Cal-Com to split up the work into smaller increments to expedite project completion.

Graham said after the Department of Environmental Health inspects and approves Cal-Com's completed work, the pool will open within a three-week time frame. In addition to the revised plan from Cal-Com, other steps required before opening the pool to the public include construction, tile-setting, filling, and disinfecting the pool, and environmental testing.

Phase II is tentatively scheduled to begin February 2016. The $1M funding for this phase has not yet been secured.

In related news, the North Park Planning Committee currently has a draft plan out for public review that mentions replacing and expanding existing Bud Kearns and Morley Field facilities.