By Linda Taaffe

Los Altos residents may know the answer to the million-dollar swimming pool question by the end of January. The Los Altos City Council last week agreed to spend $3,500 for a private contractor to analyze the operational and financial impacts of one pool versus two pools at Rosita Park in order to expedite results by Jan. 24.

Without an outside contractor, the survey would have bumped other projects or been placed at the bottom of the recreation department’s list of 36 priorities.

The size, location and fate of the proposed community swim center have remained uncertain since 2003 when neighbors sued the city over unresolved traffic and noise concerns identified in environmental studies related to the project.

The survey will evaluate three options for the complex: a single pool, a two-pool project and the original proposal that neighbors challenged. All three proposals would have a large 25-meter by 25-yard pool in addition to a wading pool.

The two-pool proposal under consideration would add a 10-meter by 25-yard smaller pool. The original proposal, which prompted residents to sue the city, is the largest option. It would include a 25-meter by 20-yard second pool.

A pool task force, convened last September after a judge ruled in favor of the city, recommended the smaller, two-pool option.

A consensus said the proposal would still allow swimmers access to two different water temperatures, a key component to competitive swimming, according to pool proponents, while addressing the neighborhood’s concerns over the scope of the project.

A smaller pool could mean fewer programs, which would generate less money. The city might have to subsidize some of the operational costs.

Councilmembers weren’t convinced that smaller would necessarily mean quieter or better.

“Why would we give away public benefits without getting something for it?” Councilman King Lear said. “What do we get for unilateral reductions?”

Under the original plan, Los Altos Masters offered to operate the pool center at a 100 percent cost recovery through programming.

Swimmers Promoting Los Altos Aquatics, Safety and Health (SPLASH) has agreed to provide the funding for construction. The city will provide the land.