Bartlett diving board controversy sparked after Bronson administration failed to follow public procedure, LaFrance administration says

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A special meeting of the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Commission is scheduled for Wednesday – which Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s administration says is intended to recognize the concerns of the diving and swimming community regarding the controversial installation of diving boards just 50 meters from the state. swimming pool at Bartlett High School – “bypassed” the public process under the former Bronson administration.

Becky Windt Pearson said that normally, parks and recreation assets — including diving boards — require Assembly input, including appropriations and ordinances, added to Title IV of the municipal code that members of the Assembly and the Parks and Recreation Commission review the contracts, then open the process to the public. for comment.

“The (LaFrance) administration supports us in having a public process,” Windt Pearson said. “This project was carried out by a private group (Dimond Alumni Special Projects, Inc.) pursuant to a (memorandum of understanding) which ultimately did not require consideration by the Assembly, so there is no had a public process.

“We got to where we are now because the municipality under the last administration did not need any sort of public process to allow the project to move forward.”

Wednesday’s meeting will include a report from Bettisworth North Architects, as well as a subcontractor specializing in pool design, followed by public testimony around the highly controversial diving boards, which a half-dozen Alaska lawmakers have requested removal by October 25.

In the letter from Anchorage Senators Bill Wielechowski, Löki Gale Tobin, Matt Claman and Forrest Dunbar, as well as Anchorage Representative Cliff Groh and Juneau Representative Sara Hannan, the lawmakers expressed concern that they are not seeing the state funding move toward what they called limitations. improvements.

“Currently, our understanding is that the 10-foot Bartlett diving boards prevent full competitive access to all lanes for official, USA Swimming-sanctioned competitions,” the lawmakers wrote. “We understand that any further delays will impact the ability of Alaska athletes – locally and across the state – (who) may not be able to compete at these facilities as a result.”

The letter also supports a proposal designating the Bettye Davis East High School pool as a designated location for diving practice and competitions, something many members of the state’s swimming community have suggested since the signs were installed.

Mike Braniff, director of the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department, which manages all municipal pools, including Bartlett, took responsibility for Parks and Recreation’s failure to provide adequate oversight of the project during a assembly meeting earlier this month.

He previously told Alaska’s News Source Investigates that the municipality would investigate swimmers’ concerns about the new diving boards.

Wednesday’s special meeting is part of a public consultation process that Braniff engaged in during this committee session.

People like Eagle River High School swim coach Bryce Carpenter have been outspoken against the boards since the installation took place over the summer.

In a previous interview, like state legislators, Carpenter also not only named Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School as a more appropriate location to host dives in the state, but also expressed concerns regarding safety that the boards pose to swimmers.

“I have several kids who are over 6 feet 3 inches tall and if they go right up the block,” Carpenter said previously. “They hit their heads on this ceramic base and they’re going to break their heads.”

Besides safety concerns, limitations on competitions that the state’s only 50-meter pool can accommodate are also a priority for many in the swimming community.

Alaska School Activity Association meet referee Stacey Mank said in a previous interview that diving boards pose significant challenges in accommodating up to 400 children at a time, ages 5 to 19.

“These particular 2-meter dives have affected our ability to have safe and fair competitions, and that affects not only our high school swimmers, but also our age group swimmers across the state,” Mank said.

The installation of the diving board was part of a $400,000 grant awarded three years ago to the Dimond Alumni Association to replace diving boards throughout the municipality. Dimond Alumni member and longtime advocate for Bartlett’s new boards, Matt McDaniel, was instrumental in securing this grant.

As president of the Arctic Diving Club and a community swimming coach for more than 30 years, McDaniel said the addition of an additional 10-foot-high diving board was intended to allow the club to host meets division in the United States, which members of the diving community said was a goal 40 years in the making.

In a previous interview, McDaniel said his diving group had already taken steps to address comments from parks and recreation leaders regarding diving board concerns.

“We went back and double-checked all our evidence, with our building permits, with our fire permit and testimony from other pool managers outside the country, and we thought it was good,” McDaniel said.

Windt Pearson acknowledged the challenge facing the current government in finding compromise between two groups with valid demands.

“I think any recommendation that the Commission comes up with and any decision that we have to make here will be difficult,” Windt Pearson said. “We have a user group that has really invested a lot of energy and effort into getting an asset that is in many ways a dream asset… and then we have another user group – the swimmers – who really enjoy this pool.”

The meeting is scheduled to begin at the Spenard Community Recreation Center at 6 p.m.

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