The City Council will have one more crack in two weeks at voting to borrow for the new $3.9 million pool at North Elementary School.
But no one expects that approval will happen.
In the same 3-2 vote as previous votes for the project, council members decided to use $3.9 million in the city’s fund balance to replace the William J. Flynn pool at North Elementary School on the city’s north side.
As they have done right along, council members Cliff G. Olney III, Lisa A. Ruggiero and Patrick J. Hickey again supported moving forward with the pool project, while Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith and Councilwoman Sarah V. Compo Pierce continued to oppose it.
They had three options for how to pay for it on Monday night.
But votes on whether to bond for the pool and to use American Rescue Plan Act funding never made it to the floor.
No one introduced the ARPA funds option and Mayor Smith stopped it from a vote by refusing to agree to unanimous consent.
However, bonding for the pool will now automatically come up for a vote during council’s June 19 meeting. It would need four votes for approval, when only three council members support the project.
“I saw the importance of bonding,” Councilwoman Ruggiero said afterward. “Also, I always believed in the north side.”
Like he has said in the past, Mayor Smith reiterated his belief that the city doesn’t need a third pool and cannot afford the project, adding that the city will have a $17.7 million deficit in just a few years.
The city is “foolishly spending on something that it doesn’t need,” he said.
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