Colby residents pass sales tax for aquatic center, fire station

Nov. 5, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- COLBY -- A 0.75 percent sales tax to fund recent construction of a fire station and the construction of an aquatic center in Colby passed by a margin of nearly three-to-one in an election Tuesday.

"I'm pinching myself," said Jennifer Burr, member of a work group formed to promote the aquatic center project. "We are so excited. We're thrilled that it passed with such a margin. It's such a relief to see the support for it."

Unofficial election results were 896 for the sales tax and 311 against. The vote will be canvassed Monday.

The tax will take effect in April and be collected for the next 10 years. Bonds issued to help finance construction of a new fire station completed earlier this year will be paid off with $2.5 million of the funds collected from the sales tax. Colby Mayor Ken Bieber said the city will save almost $500,000 in interest by paying off the debt through a 10-year sales tax instead of 20 years of property tax collection.

Up to $5 million will be used for the aquatic center. The aquatic center will include a 25-meter, competition-sized, lap-lane pool with high and low dives, and a recreational area with slides, spray features and a lazy river.

Aquatic Design Consultants, the same company that designed the aquatic center under construction in Salina, developed a plan for Colby's aquatic center. Bids will be solicited in the spring, and the facility is expected to be open in summer 2011, Burr said.

The city's current pool was constructed in 1941 as a Works Progress Administration project.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0104-39465865