The recently appointed eight-member “Healthier Together Task Force” will meet for the first time from 4-6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30, at the Jefferson County Courthouse, with virtual attendance available for the public via Zoom, to consider potential locations for a pool facility within the county.

Jefferson County District 3 Commissioner Greg Brotherton said the task force members would meet in person at the courthouse, while the public would be directed to the webinar through the Healthier Together Task Force web page.  

The Jefferson County Commissioners appointed two citizen representatives for each of the county’s three districts, while two at-large members, who reside outside the city of Port Townsend, were chosen to represent the JeffCo Aquatic Coalition by its president.

Todd McGuire and Nancy Speser will represent District 1, while Celeste Schoenthaler and Jim Scarantino will represent District 2. Adele Govert and Lynne Hovde will represent District 3, with Cray Henry and Mary Rothschild serving as the at-large representatives of the JeffCo Aquatic Coalition.

Jefferson County District 1 Commissioner Kate Dean reiterated that one purpose of the task force is to ensure sufficient feedback is solicited from Jefferson County Districts 2 and 3, so that representatives of all three county districts can potentially speak to alternate building locations and funding mechanisms.

At the same time, the county commissioners requested that all applicants for the task force “have a desire to see a public pool facility built in the county.”

Dean has already acknowledged that “public resistance was significant” to the previously proposed building location, which was the existing Mountain View campus pool site in Port Townsend, as well as to the creation of a Public Facilities District to fund the new facility’s estimated $37 million cost.

The proposed Public Facilities District would create a county-wide taxing district that would levy a 0.2% sales tax. Commissioners agreed that they are not yet ready to place such a measure on the ballot without obtaining further information, insights and input.

The task force’s two-hour meetings are scheduled to run every other week through the month of June, meeting eight times before presenting their findings to the Jefferson County Commissioners, the Port Townsend City Council and the Healthier Together steering committee, although Brotherton noted there’s no deadline to put anything before the voters.

Late last year, the Jefferson County Commissioners voted to join the city of Port Townsend in funding a $15,000 independent financial feasibility review of the aquatic and wellness center that had been proposed for the existing Mountain View campus pool site.

This came after the Healthier Together Initiative partners had already entered into an interlocal agreement, and spent approximately $220,000 on both the design of a new pool and the evaluation of the old pool, according to city Parks and Recreation Strategy Director Carrie Hite.

Those Healthier Together partners include Jefferson County, the city of Port Townsend, Jefferson County Public Hospital District 2, the Port Townsend School District, the Olympic Peninsula YMCA, the JeffCo Aquatic Coalition and the Port of Port Townsend.

The Healthier Together Task Force web page, where the webinar link will be posted, is online: co.jefferson.wa.us/1723/Healthier-Together-Task-Force