In what many thought was an out of reach goal to raise the money to resurface the community swimming pool has come to fruition.

POOL FUNDRAISING GOAL MET

New lower bid comes in; resurfacing project to begin soon

In what many thought was an out of reach goal to raise the money to resurface the community swimming pool has come to fruition.
Southwest Health and Human Services, which inspects the pool each summer, had ordered the baby and toddler pool and the main lap pool to be resurfaced by 2020 for safety reasons or the State of Minnesota Licensing Board would not issue it an operating license and the pool would be forced to shut down.
The City of Minneota paid for the completed resurfacing of the baby and toddler pool at cost of $25,000 in the spring of 2019. Because the city was showing progress with the resurfacing of the baby pool while also showing intention to repair the main pool, it was given an additional year to raise the money and have the resurfacing done by the spring of 2021.
The city put the project up for bid and received a $280,000 bid from a construction firm in the Twin Cities area. The Minneota City Council rejected the bid in April of 2020 and then put the resurfacing job up for bid again in early August.
"We had five bids this second time, including the same bid of $280,000," said City Administrator Shirley Teigland. "The lowest bid was $120,516 and the council accepted that bid on Aug. 8."
The disparity in the highest and lowest bid came about because the highest bidder was sub-contracting the work out to others, while Go Get FRED, Inc. will do all the work.
The $120,000 bid came from Go Get FRED, Inc. of Minneapolis, which is owned by Shane Lange. The acronym stands for Fast. Reliable. Efficient. Direct.
"I am extremely excited that it all fell into place for the pool," said City Councilwoman Amber Rodas, who is on the City's Pool Committee with Travis Gillund.
"I was very worried with COVID hit that we were not going to make our goal. I would like to thank everyone who donated, came to our events, and supported our cause."Rodas and Steph Vlaminck, who is on the local EDA, headed fundraising efforts such as an Adult Prom in 2019, but the coronavirus quelled plans for a similar event in 2020. The group was able to raise $35,000, while private donors accounted for $46,000. The City of Minneota has agreed to pay the remainder of the $120,000.
"We had two donors who gave very generous donations," Rodas said. "I would like them to know that we are grateful for their donation. They really helped finalize our fundraising efforts."
Kim Gades, Tami Tolk, Jessica Moriarty, Patty Myrvik and Kelsea Anderson comprise the Pool Pals committee.
Several local ladies made masks and donated them to Gislason's Hardware and Brad's Market to raise money for the pool. The masks have brought in around $1,500 so far.
Go Get FRED, Inc. will begin demolition of the pool surface in October. They are expected to complete the project in the spring before the pool opens for the season.
"We were all thrilled that we were able to get this done," said Teigland. "It's a big relief because we weren't sure if it was going to be possible to raise the money. Very few places do this kind of work, so we were fortunate that this company came up with a much lower bid."

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