Marshall parks and recreation superintendent Preston Stensrud and city administrator Sharon Hanson answered questions about an upcoming referendum and the proposed new Marshall Aquatic Center at Monday's Marshall School Board meeting.

MARSHALL — Now that the city of Marshall has the go-ahead to hold a vote on a local sales tax extension, it’s time to bring information on the proposal to the public, city staff said.

Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson and Parks and Recreation Superintendent Preston Stensrud spoke at Monday’s meeting of the Marshall School Board. They gave updates on a proposed project to build a new city aquatic center on land near the intersection of Saratoga Street and West College Drive.

“This is actually kind of our first public run of this presentation. We’re starting to get information sharing out there,” Hanson said.

The city is seeking to extend the time Marshall’s current local sales tax is in effect, in order to raise $18.3 million for the aquatic center project. However, Hanson said the city was not asking the school board to show support for the proposal.

“We are not allowed by state statute to request support for a referendum on the project. So we are not approaching the council with any action item. It’s information only,” Hanson said.

Hanson said Marshall has been seriously talking about needing to update the current Aquatic Center for about 10 years. “The current facility, really the last major upgrade was in 1970, and prior to that the original main body pool was actually constructed in 1937,” she said. “We need to update this, and we need to update it in a big way.”

Hanson and Stensrud said there were a lot of mechanical issues facing the current Aquatic Center. The pool leaks around 12,000 to 15,000 gallons of water a day.

“There’s a lot of things that people can’t see,” Stensrud said. “From the 30s and the 70s, there are still original pipes underground that are cast iron. We’re getting chunks of metal in our filters.”

Hanson said the proposal for a new Aquatic Center included a capacity for more than 1,300 users.

“Our current facility has a capacity of over 600 users, and on a hot summer day we can have up to 500 users,” Hanson said. Expanded space was important to draw in more people.

A concept drawing of the proposed new Aquatic Center included features like a splash pad and a 25-yard lap and multipurpose pool.

Hanson said the city is seeking a sales tax extension to help pay for a new Aquatic Center. “It is an extension of the current sales tax. It is not a tax increase,” Hanson said.

The current 0.05% Marshall sales tax usually generates about $1.5 million a year, Hanson said.

Marshall received state approval to generate $18.3 million for construction of the new Aquatic Center through the sales tax. However, she said, “We’re concerned about that amount, because we’re seeing inflation at 1% a month.”

“You’ll probably hear about us seeking out sponsorships and donations. We think this is something that people want to support,” Hanson said.

Stensrud said the city approached the Marshall Community Foundation about being the fiscal host for fundraising dollars for the aquatic center project.

The vote on whether to extend the Marshall sales tax will be on Nov. 7, Hanson said. If voters approve the referendum, the city could start advertising for construction bids in February and start construction with a goal of having the new center open by Memorial Day weekend in 2025.

Hanson said the city also planned to make information on the aquatic center project available online and on social media.

“We actually get some good questions asked” via social media, Hanson said. “I will state that, if there’s a direct question, the city will answer via Facebook or a message. If someone asks a question and then answers it, whether they’re right or wrong, we likely will not answer the question.”