The Palisades-Malibu YMCA pool in Temescal Gateway Park remains closed because of the Y’s latest concern: liability for the hillside above the pool. Executive Director Carol Pfannkuche said Tuesday that her organization is worried about the hillside’s stability and the Y’s liability should a house come sliding down. After the pool was closed February 9 because of a water recirculation leak, the Y was given a quote of $350,000 to repair the aging pipes, but was also given a $25,000 estimate that could possibly work as a ‘Band-aid’ to fix the leak. On Tuesday, Pfannkuche showed the Palisadian-Post a six-inch plastic pipe that extends from a backyard on Rimmer Road down the hill to about 10 feet above the pool. Water was still in the pipe, and the ground around the pipe, about 50 sq. ft., was saturated. The area is near the site of a 1998 slide that closed the pool for several weeks. ‘We can’t make a decision on a contract until we know if the facility is safe to operate,’ Pfannkuche said. ‘It’s not clear who would take the responsibility.’ She referred to a renewed five-year lease with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which has not yet been signed. ‘This is a distraction being put forward by the Y so they don’t have to deal with all the swimmers who are saying ‘fix this pool,” the Conservancy’s Executive Director Joe Edmiston told the Post. ‘We’re not going to take the blame. ‘I’ve gotten calls from swimmers who say that I’m endangering their mental health because I’m not allowing the Y to fix the pool,’ Edmiston said. ‘The Conservancy isn’t in the swimming-pool business.’ The pool is on land previously owned by the Presbyterian Synod before it was purchased by the Conservancy. ‘We’re happy to have the pool, but we’re just not in that business,’ said Edmiston, who reiterated that the Conservancy has a deal under which the Y pays one dollar a year. In exchange the Y is responsible for the operations, maintenance and repairs at the pool, and is then allowed leeway to charge whatever fees it wants. As part of the agreement, the Conservancy is given two hours of pool use a day for their youth camps. ‘The taxpayers will not assume a scintilla of responsibility for the pool’s liability,’ Edmiston emphasized. The past two months have been frustrating for the hundreds of people who love the Y pool’master swimmers, lap and water exercisers, high school and Y swim teams and their families, as they wait for repairs to begin. Legal counsel for the Conservancy, Laurie Collins said that there’s no evidence of any hillside damage and she doesn’t understand the delay, either. ‘I drafted a lease almost three weeks ago [March 11] and have not received any comments back,’ Collins said. ‘It’s the same boilerplate lease that we used for the two preschools [Little Dolphins and Jewish Early Childhood Center].’ The existing lease in the 1994 option agreement for the Y’s purchase plan for the corner of Sunset and Temescal states: ‘Lease. Conservancy will honor the existing pool lease between the Synod and the YMCA for the term of that lease, and will continue the lease on the same terms thereafter for the existing useful life of the existing pool. The parties agree that on the expiration of said existing life, the parties will enter into negotiations for the possible replacement of said pool on such reasonable conditions as can be agreed to at such time for the continued use and/or management of the facility by the YMCA.’ Although the Conservancy’s new lease document is 14 pages, Collins said that the liability issues for the pool are exactly the same as the shorter document; the only difference is that the Conservancy lists them. Pfannkucke acknowledged that the Y has received the new draft, but felt the Y could not move forward until its board of directors and lawyers believe the facility is safe. A task force of seven people, some of whom are Y members and some of whom are swimmers, has been organized. Pfannkuche said people could write their concerns and send them to the task force at the YMCA, 821 Via de la Paz. Edmiston reiterated that under the current lease, the Y is responsible for all liability regarding the pool.
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