How much is the Meyers Pool replacement going to cost Jeffco over the long-term?
At last week’s Study Session multiple Board members raised concerns regarding the potential long-term costs associated with Jeffco’s obligation to the new Meyers Pool. Those concerns and questions were reasonable and should have been expected. Yet, COO Gatlin was totally unprepared to provide specific answers and seemingly left several Board members feeling uncomfortable, as they should be. As COO, Gatlin gets paid good money to not only anticipate those questions, but be prepared to provide solid answers. He could have called other similar facilities to get an understanding of lifecycle costs, or asked the construction team for estimates, but no, in true Jeffco form, he did absolutely nothing. Was he demonstrating his incompetence, or, even worse, was he attempting to hide the lifecycle costs he expects the Board to commit to paying in the future?
For non-professionals like me, it only takes 5 minutes to ask an AI model a simple question, something Gatlin could have also done, but didn’t. In this case, asking Claude.ai
What are the estimated life cycle costs for a large indoor swimming and diving facility?:
Returns the following:
# Total Lifecycle Cost Analysis (50-year period)
1. Initial Capital Investment: $10-15 million
2. Total Annual Operating Costs (50 years): $47.25-63.38 million
3. Major Replacements and Renovations: $8-12 million (see below for a complete breakout)
Since the Arvada complex cost 3x as much as this answer returned ($45M), we can estimate that the 50 (48 unguaranteed) year total for Major Replacements and Renovations will be in the neighborhood of $24-36 million, meaning Jeffco’s 1/3 share will be $8 – 12 million. Evenly spread over 48 years means Jeffco should expect annual capital costs of $170,000 – $250,000 in 2024 dollars.
Should the Board be comfortable with that? Certainly not and for 2 key reasons:
1. Based on March 2021 data, Arvada based swim teams were being charged approximately $30,000 per year in Apex program fees. So, even after paying $20M to build the pool, Jeffco will now also be spending 6x to 8x MORE than before in costs for those same swimmers. That just doesn’t make financial sense.
2. In 2021, the Jeffco Board was told that Jeffco swimmers were responsible for approximately 10% to 15% of the total Meyers Pool usage. If that is the case, why should Jeffco be responsible for 1/3 of the complex’s total lifecycle capital expenses? That’s 2x to 3x the amount that a usage based model would give as Jeffco’s share. And when Jeffco was paying usage fees, wasn’t Apex using those fees to pay for on-going capital requirements? Exactly what is Jeffco getting from all of the money it is dumping into Meyers? Again, this doesn’t make financial sense for Jeffco schools.
On top of all of this, what competent COO, attorney and Superintendent would bring the Board a 50 year agreement that is based on a 2024 fixed dollar amount of $25,000 that was not indexed to inflation? In 2055, 30 years from now, that $25,000 would be equivalent to $12,000 today (2.5% annual inflation). That is barely going to pay for lightbulbs then. That means that Jeffco would be paying for more and more of the facility maintenance as time goes on because more things would be classified as capital expenses in the future.
It is the job of the Superintendent, COO and attorney to anticipate issues and protect the district. In this instance, all three of them have failed miserably.
Finally, all of this begs the question of what do the city of Arvada and Apex know about the projected costs. Did they choose the initial capital fund amount of $1.5M to make it sound like they were making a sizable contribution to fool Jeffco and take even more advantage of the district? It sure seems that way.
In summary, this agreement, much like the original IGA, screws Jeffco schools and should be rejected.
# Expected Lifetime and Major Replacement Cycles
## Structure and Building (50-year lifecycle)
– Roof replacement: Every 20-25 years ($500,000-750,000)
– Building systems upgrades: Every 15-20 years ($1-1.5 million)
– Pool shell resurface: Every 10-12 years ($200,000-300,000)
## Mechanical Systems (15-25 year lifecycle)
– HVAC replacement: Every 15-20 years ($750,000-1 million)
– Pool mechanical systems: Every 12-15 years ($300,000-450,000)
– Filtration system overhaul: Every 10-12 years ($200,000-300,000)
## Equipment and Fixtures (5-10 year lifecycle)
– Starting blocks: Every 8-10 years ($25,000-35,000)
– Diving boards: Every 5-7 years ($50,000-75,000)
– Lane lines: Every 3-5 years ($15,000-20,000)
– Deck furniture: Every 5-7 years ($30,000-45,000)
Major Replacements and Renovations: $8-12 million
