The City of Hartselle has given Woodward Construction and Burleson Pools a punch list of 26 items that are unacceptable with the construction of the Hartselle Aquatic Center.

Ronnie Woodward, owner of Woodward Construction, said he is planning to work with the city to get a resolution on each of these issues as soon as possible. He said some of the issues cannot be fixed until the pool closes for the season Sept. 2.

However, he is looking to get help to get several of the issues fixed before the end of the summer season. Specifically, he wants to get the rusting “stainless steel” ladders, guard stands and gutter system parts replaced as soon as possible.

Woodward said the supplier will be at the pool Wednesday to resolve those issues, along with issues with the diving boards.

Department of Development Director Jeff Johnson said the company said the reasons for the issues with the diving board, much like the stainless steel issues, were due to improper cleaning.

“The company used what looked like dish washing soap and scrubbed it,” Johnson said. “They said it would need to be done on a weekly basis.”

However, city councilman Tom Chappell disagreed that a fiberglass diving board should need that kind of attention.

“If we have to scrub the diving board with Joy dishwashing soap every week, then we got screwed,” Chappell said. “You can drive up the road and look at diving boards and stainless steel ladders that have been in the pool for 40 years and they don’t have that kind of a problem.”

Council President Bill Smelser said he has a 30-year-old pool that still has the same stainless steel that it had originally and it hasn’t had the same kind of issues with very little cleaning.

“We shouldn’t be having to clean and buff these things weekly,” Smelser said. “I might could understand with an older pool but not one as new as ours.”

However, Johnson said he doesn’t believe there is a 12-inch per day leak in the pool. After studying water-bills from Hartselle Utilities and his own 10-day study of the water meters, he said he is “99.5 percent sure that there isn’t a 12-inch per day leak.”

His estimates determined that the water bill would be more than $6,000 just on filling the pool. Currently, the water bill is only $3,500 for the entire aquatic center.

However, Park and Recreation director Frank Miller said water is still draining off of the layout area in the pool, which is supposed to stay below 12 inches of water.

“I know that the diamond brite cannot be exposed to direct sunlight,” Miller said. “It has to stay underwater, but that water is going somewhere.”

Once the pool closes Sept. 2, Woodward said they plan to address the larger issues surrounding the Diamond Brite in the pool, the pool deck and drainage issues.