Oddly enough, I was a long ways from B'game last week when the issue came up of the BHS pool being closed for the long-term. It was just after this meeting took place as described in today's Daily Journal:
With the price tag for rebuilding the swimming pool at Burlingame High School continuously floating higher, city officials are examining ways to help pay down the cost for the highly-valued community facility. The Burlingame City Council discussed during a study session Monday, Jan. 7, strategies for collaborating with San Mateo Union High School District officials to address the reconstruction. As officials from both agencies have watched the projected cost for the total rebuild rise to $6.4 million, Burlingame Mayor Donna Colson expressed some sticker shock over the continuous construction cost hikes.
City and school officials will share the reconstruction cost, as the pool is on school district property but city programming accounts for most of its use when students aren’t swimming.
As you dive into the rest of the article you see the weakness in the California approach to having the school districts being separate from their host cities--unlike where I grew up in Massachusetts where the schools were just another department. C'est la vie. Perhaps the Big Glass Box of a new Rec Center will get some further cost engineering to carve out a couple of million? Here is a shot of the pool as it stands now--very sad.
everything about the latest mismanagement of funds sits directly on the Desk of the City of Burlingame Manager.
Seriously folks, how much longer are we going along with these ridiculous proposals?
Especially with the OUTSTANDING DEBT the City of Burlingame is in arrears to CalPers regarding Retirement for past employees.
Posted by: [email protected] | January 16, 2019 at 07:23 PM
Potholes and CalPERS. Fix ‘em
HSR and Rev. Ctr. Dumm
Posted by: Cassandra | January 16, 2019 at 09:29 PM
The City Mgr as I understand from the rumor-mill swims there often . How can it happen? City needs to find new City Manager. There is no excuse for incompetent management.
Posted by: BHS Alum | January 27, 2019 at 08:45 AM
With the respect to the above comments, you have no basis for your statements. You are not aware of what is going on behind the scenes, the political dynamic as well as the support the City Manager receives from above.
Posted by: Fred | February 04, 2019 at 03:58 PM
We nee to know what is going on behind the scenes.
Without Public Review and Input we end up discovering the City Elders are only "rubber stamping" everything coming across their desk.
Seriously City of Burlingame Millionaire's, did you elect Elderman to make all decisions for you?
Posted by: [email protected] | February 04, 2019 at 09:33 PM
You don't need a swimming pool. Pave it over and create another more affordable sport like sand volleyball or some other sport. We are aware who swims at this pool and who is politically pushing to get a new pool. Do something original like put the money away and let it earn interest.
The new rec center should be built with a world-class pool BHS can use.
Posted by: SFO | February 05, 2019 at 04:25 AM
Joe,in the City I grew up in,the High School fields, gym, pool, tennis courts, auditorium etc., use to be just another part of the Community. They were never locked and chained and many non profit sports were played there. I grew up in Burlingame. That is NOT the case anymore. Now the school district charges tremendous fees to use these facilities and locks them up on a regular basis. They don't want the Community using their facilities and they don't want us using the pool. If it wasn't for the donor that put up the money for the pool originally, it would have been locked up already, sitting there unused, day after day. The school district does not want to be part of the community and do not want the community, using any portion of the campus, without paying tremendous fees.(I thought our taxes already covered this). I hope if the City puts the money up, they have a iron clad agreement as the District will lock it up the day the agreement ends.
Posted by: Laura | February 05, 2019 at 05:16 AM
I seem to remember "Swimming Pools" lasting- at least as old as I am.
San Bruno, SSF, Flyshacker, the one on 19th Ave.my Aunts Estate-at least 90 years old, and many more. Why did this facility "collapse" so soon?
Dear Laura,
The City of Burlingame is the Capitol of the "Deep State."
Posted by: [email protected] | February 05, 2019 at 03:16 PM
The pool is first and foremost for the High School.
Posted by: Fred | February 05, 2019 at 08:58 PM
As it should be.
Let the school district pay for the removal and replacement.
Posted by: [email protected] | February 06, 2019 at 09:43 AM
I'd imagine the school is in need of a new rubber track soon. The rubber is hard and slippery.
Posted by: BHS89 | February 07, 2019 at 09:07 AM
So does that pool have to be replaced every 20 years?? Seems to me pools used to last longer or am I mistaken??
Posted by: Joanne | February 07, 2019 at 03:55 PM
I just realized that I saw this piece last week, but didn't post it:
City and school officials reached a tentative cost-sharing deal financing the Burlingame High School swimming pool rebuild, which is necessary to fix severe structural flaws discovered during routine maintenance work.
The San Mateo Union High School District Board of Trustees will receive during its meeting Thursday, Feb. 21, the first chance to approve the term sheet crafted following a series of discussions with Burlingame officials.
According to the terms up for approval, the school district will contribute about $3.9 million and the city will pay $2.7 million to fix the pool. High school district officials agreed the problems with the pool were so widespread that it would be a wiser investment to rebuild the facility than fix it.
https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/burlingame-high-school-swimming-pool-fix-deal-is-up-for/article_bf28f75c-358f-11e9-a73e-8bc98830976f.html
Posted by: Joe | February 25, 2019 at 01:25 PM
Has any sort of recourse been considered to sue the Contractor that installed the Pool facility?
Or does the responsibility of "Signing Off" on the design and installation of the Pool fall upon the City of Burlingame Engineers,and Building Inspectors?
I met a few employees of the Building Department back in the mid 1990's.
Many were fired, one was arrested for Child Porn on his COB Computer, one had two hand guns in his desk at City Hall, one was fired for driving City Car with two open 5 gallon paint buckets filled with Gasoline in the back seat, another guy worked solid-40 plus years. He could not accept retirement and continued to come to work without pay until he was threatened with Trespassing. He was a very nice man. Retirement is not always easy on us.
I remember that @ 1995 the City of Burlingame built a well in Washington Park. A couple of million dollars were spent on the Project and it never worked. It was never used. Yet all along he way, the poor design and construction was "signed off" buy City of Burlingame Engineers, Building Inspectors, and City Elders.
The Community of Burlingame needs a "Watchdog Group" to oversee the inability of the current Management-Past and future that "SCREAM POOR DECISION/MISMANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC MONIES."
Please contact the City of Burlingame "City Manager," regarding her mistake of letting the Recreation and Park Dept. Building, removal and replacement go forward.
Think about it Neighbors, the City of Burlingame Management and Politicians have been acting like "Children in a Candy Store."
Access to lots of Monies, with very poor and immature decision making skills, that ALWAYS become harmful to our community.
In my opinion, the only reason the current COB Manager is still employed is that not a single COB Elder has the background to comprehend mismanagement, or management.
Basically,COB Elders are overwhelmed with running a City.
Candy Store Shop owners, Family Contractors, a guy who says he was an ambassador, Housewife, Real Estate Sales people, etc. have no business running a multi-million dollar Corporation.
Thoughts anyone?
Posted by: [email protected] | February 25, 2019 at 03:18 PM
I just read that the high school district and the city have struck a deal on the pool and work is progressing. The funniest part is they just realized the pool was not exactly 50 meters long!!!!!!?????!!!!!
Posted by: Mom | August 27, 2019 at 04:18 PM
I saw that little measuring tape snafu. Hollyroller's question from February is still valid.
Posted by: Joe | August 28, 2019 at 07:25 PM
Is it, Joe? So HR wants a council of professional city bureaucrats rather than representatives of the people? Curious. And who supervises them? HR?
Or does HR want full-time, paid council members? Not a small item in the budget, but probably something the city could afford. I'm guessing HR doesn't think that's solved all of San Francisco's problems.
Not to mention that blaming the current council for things that happened in '95 is pretty silly. Even Keighran hasn't been on that long. Only two of the five of them take credit/blame for Facebook (along with Cathy Baylock, Terry Nagel, and Jerry Deal), but understand that the economic environment in 2012 was a little different than it is now. People who want to won't have any trouble seeing that things aren't black and white--or static.
Nor was the City Manager around for any of that stuff. We know HR doesn't like her, but she's only been there since December 2012--also after the Facebook office building approval.
All the pejorative BS aside, most anyone is welcome to run for the council. It's the voters' responsibility to choose them. The election is coming and there are three candidates qualified for the ballot. Two are incumbents, first elected in 2015, with records for those who want to to see; and the third is a pro-high density housing/renter advocate. In November Burlingame's voters choose. And assuming HR is a resident, HR's vote is worth the same as yours and mine.
Posted by: Just Visiting | August 29, 2019 at 09:06 AM
Or is the question: does Burlingame sue the contractor? Generally not before the project is finished. Suing is generally a last resort when a dispute can't be resolved--not the first option--and only very rarely when a project is still ongoing. There are mistakes on every construction project, and one shouldn't run to court as soon as a mistake happens.
Posted by: Just Visiting | August 29, 2019 at 09:30 AM
SMUHSD Board and admin(Liz McManus) handling/cancellation of the facilities joint user agreement between the City and SMUHSD is how the massive "pissing" contest between the entities began and still ongoing.IMO, The city is very fortunate that the donor did what he did for the city residents with the pool many years ago, as it has given the city some leverage(+ 3 BHS baseball teams use the 2 fields at Washington Park) to continue to run their programs at the pool. It the donation didn't happen, and without the little leverage the city had with the SMUHSD, city residents wouldn't have access at all to BHS pool. $60M rec center with out a pool or gym??? Wow...
Posted by: Barking Dog | August 29, 2019 at 12:40 PM
JV, yes, sorry, I was unclear. Forget all of hollyrollers nonsense about the Watchdog (I barely skimmed all that even back in February :-). I was talking about the liability of the contractor--by which, of course, I'm asking about the ORIGINAL contractor--not the one who hasn't even finished yet...... thought that part was obvious.
Posted by: Joe | August 29, 2019 at 12:48 PM
how much did that rec center (with pool) in Highlands cost?
Posted by: J. Mir | August 29, 2019 at 05:07 PM
This is a Burlingame Post. How much are you willing to allow the SMUHSD to extract from Burlingame? The Board (which has three Burlingame Members) looks at the community like its just another "Deep Pockets" client willing to "pay up" when requested.
The SMUHSD may not want to go back to the days of the previous contractors because it will show its early negligence in dealing with these issues.
The link to the previous 2007 BV post will remind us of the past we should not forget.
https://www.burlingamevoice.com/2007/04/smuhsd-the-multi-million-dollar-mistake.html
Posted by: KRN | August 29, 2019 at 08:47 PM
Folks, Bruce Dickinson would be remiss If I didn't say, "I told you so". Predicted throughout this thread that the City could have done a much better job negotiating the pool situation, that the whole sharing arrangement was set up to fail:
https://www.burlingamevoice.com/2014/10/swimming-in-expenses.html
To detail some of the zingers:
"Kidding aside (well, kinda) why does Bruce Dickinson feel like Burlingame was taken to the pool cleaners on this one? Both sides cannot claim the better end of the deal, by definition. This is why a community center should have had an indoor pool proposal, which could have been used as a bargaining chip for a better agreement! A California High School district finding some spare money to pay for a new pool in 20 years? I'd like to live to see that one.
That is the problem with this city, as seen with the whole broadway overpass thing, is that you gotta take a class in tying arrangements 101 and use all tools available and tie as many things together and have multiple realistic options and "outs" to do the best negotiating."
"this whole pool sharing arrangement with BHS and Burlingame, as I've mentioned from the very get go, is kind of set up to fail, which is too bad, as the City seems unable to demonstrate any skill in predictive ability or foresight. Maybe it's because they just don't have a lot of experience in strategic decision making, persuasion, and negotiations with tough opponents. The new Rec center should have an indoor pool, thereby granting Burlingame residents full, unconditional use of it, with complete, direct control and accountability.
"At this rate, given the problems at BHS and the SMU district, they cannot be trusted as actors dealing in good faith in any endeavor, and the original logjam that the City and BHS/SMUHSD experienced on the pool issue should have been a strong indicator that SMUHSD cannot be trusted. The City of Burlingame seems to have a very hard time in deciding whether to fish or cut bait, and every indication was that the latter choice was (and is still) better."
"If Bruce Dickinson's advice would actually be listened to, I would save the Burlingame community millions of dollars and get better outcomes for residents. So if the City wants any advice, you know where to reach me or one of my assistants, who can tackle the issue ASAP and with methods that have proven to be successful at the very upper echelons of industry!"
"Well, in that vein, how does the City Council and the City of Burlingame spell foresight? with a capital "M" , as in Myopic. Just as they pat themselves on the back in self-felicitations for approving the new community center, gushing over their accomplishment, guess what rears it's ugly head. The power non-sharing arrangement with Burlingame and BHS and guess what??!?. We miss a squandered opportunity to rectify the situation and give back something the community really needs. Seriously folks, do these people not have any strategic planning skills??? It's amateur hour on 501 Primrose and guess who's paying for it it more ways than one? That's right that would be us!"
Being right a lot is both a blessing and a curse!
Posted by: Bruce Dickinson | August 29, 2019 at 11:00 PM
Holy Cow Joe...
For moment I felt the:
Thrill of Victory.
Alas, The Agony of Defeat.
Posted by: [email protected] | August 30, 2019 at 04:07 PM
Dear JV.
Would you rather have a CPA reviewing your finances, or an elected politician who's financial experience is balancing their Check Book?
In my option, that is the difference between Elected COB Elders running a Billion Dollar Enterprise, vs. a Full Time Financial Corporation.
Regarding my like or dislike of the City Manager.. I am sure she does a very good job in a "Small Town" sort of way. However, every decision made regarding the Future of Burlingame's Billion Dollar Holdings may be way out of her league... Then again, what do I know. Fred?
Posted by: [email protected] | August 31, 2019 at 02:36 PM