DEARBORN, Mich. – Dearborn residents in the Hemlock Park area are invited to a public meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26 at Hemlock Cabin concerning the future of Hemlock Pool.
The meeting is intended as a public forum to provide information about the proposed future of Hemlock Pool. It will be hosted by Dearborn Recreation & Parks Department Director Greg Orner and include other city officials.
Hemlock Pool is one of two pools that city officials decided to close after the 2010 summer season in an attempt to bring municipal costs in line with available revenue.
Residents in the Hemlock Park area, through a petition campaign, have indicated their interest in allowing area residents to vote on whether they would like to reopen the pool—after extensive redesign and modernization—by assuming financial responsibility for the facility.
As the next step in the process, the city has created a Special Assessment District (SAD), which includes approximately 2,000 residential parcels.
This Special Assessment District (SAD) encompasses the area from Warren to Wyoming, along the Detroit Terminal Railroad to Ford Road, west to Schaefer, north to Haggerty, west to Maple and north back to Warren.
The owners of these parcels will be asked if they are willing to assume responsibility for the capital improvements, maintenance and operation of the pool for the next 10 years at an annual cost of approximately $60-70 per household.
Initial capital improvements call for the modernization and reconfiguration of the pool into an L-shaped facility with a zero-depth entry at a cost of approximately $1.3 million.
If payments are assessed through the SAD, property owners within the district would not pay an entrance fee to use Hemlock Pool or pay for seasonal pool tags for Hemlock Pool.