Katy Citizen Watchdog$

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Mayde Creek Evaporation?

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The November bond initiative contains a proposed expenditure of $7,237,752 for a new natatorium at MCHS.  The Watchdog$ (www.katycitizens.org) pulled the following from the KISD web site:

“Why does the pool continue to leak at Mayde Creek HS?
We corrected a leak in the drain and another outside the building. The Mayde Creek High School pool is unique compared to Cinco Ranch, Katy, Morton Ranch, Seven Lakes, and Taylor High Schools as the other pools have automatic fills located mostly in the mechanical areas. The MCHS pool is replenished by a garden hose directly into the pool. The MCHS pool has considerable evaporation the other pools do not have. Also unique to MCHS is the obscure windows on the entire roof and the west wall; outside doors that are open all day; the pool boiler is not separated by a wall with outside ventilation and introduces dry heat and finally continuous ventilation adding to evaporation. There are some that say the pool continues to leak. When the drain was repaired the leak was stopped. The outside is not leaking, we periodically observe for damp ground outside the pool room. As of today none has been reported. Pools with the conditions promoting evaporation will lose water.”

Some of the Watchdog$ leadership have toured the Mayde Creek natatorium.  The leak has not been fixed as claimed by the district.  We saw the retention pond that the water drains to.  The garden hose is a permanent fixture of the facility.  Thousands of gallons of water are lost everyday.  Evaporation?

After touring the facility the Watchdog$ agree that the natatorium needs to be rebuilt; however, we do not think that the entire renovation should cost over $7.2 million.  According to our estimates this project shouldn’t cost anymore than $3 million tops.

 

© 2006 by Chris Cottrell. All rights reserved.

 

 

Chris Cottrell, Katy Citizen Watchdog$

Date: 10/16/2006