Three public bodies built the Orchard Mesa Pool in 1983: Mesa County Valley School District 51, Mesa County and the City of Grand Junction. On Tuesday, November 3, one of those three goes to the ballot alone. City of Grand Junction Ballot Issue 2B asks voters inside the city limits to raise the sales tax, borrow $12 million and keep the six-lane pool on Unaweep Avenue running for decades.
The 1983 partnership has been coming apart for more than two years. The county paid its way out. The school district agreed to keep the building open only through December 2026. The city opened a new recreation center across the river five weeks ago. The city is the only one of the original three partners still paying, so the decision now goes to voters inside the city limits.
The Arrangement That Built It
District 51 owns the land and the building at 2736 Unaweep Ave. and pays the utilities. The city runs the pool. For most of its life, the city and Mesa County split the yearly operating subsidy. Regular maintenance has happened since 1983. Even so, the city's project page says every mechanical, pool and building system has reached the end of its useful life and the facility needs a full renovation.
The first partner stepped back in April 2024. At a public hearing on April 9, 2024, the Mesa County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved an $800,000 final payment to District 51. The county says the payment met its financial obligation for the pool and released it from any future financial responsibility for the facility.
Five months later, the city and District 51 signed a new joint agreement. According to the city's September 27, 2024 announcement, it keeps the pool open through December 2026, so "both parties plan for its future." That deadline is about two months away when this post goes up.
What the New Rec Center Did to the Math
The city's new Community Recreation Center sits in Matchett Park. It opened at 2836 Recreation Way with a ribbon cutting on Friday, September 25, 2026, and regular hours started at 5:30 a.m. the following Monday. Its aquatics area has five pools, two water slides, a pool climbing wall, jumping platforms, a diving board and a lazy river. The pools are named the St. Mary's Pools for Intermountain Health St. Mary's Regional Hospital, the center's official health partner. Parks and Recreation Director Ken Sherbenou told KJCT that "1978 was the original effort to build a recreation center at Grand Junction."
The new center changes how the city's swim facilities compare on cost. At a February 2, 2026 council workshop, city staff projected what each pool would cost the city per visit once the center opened:
| Facility | Projected subsidy per visit | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Orchard Mesa Pool | About $30 | Roughly $400,000 a year for about 14,400 visits if operations continue as they are |
| Lincoln Park Pool | $8.60 | Existing city pool |
| Community Recreation Center | About $3.12 | Estimate for the new facility |
These are staff estimates made before the center opened. They aren't actual results. The gap still shaped everything council considered after that workshop. In February, council weighed four paths:
- Keep operating the Orchard Mesa Pool after the recreation center opens.
- Close the Orchard Mesa Pool when the recreation center opens.
- Issue a request for proposals to find a public-private partner to run the pool and possibly add new amenities on the site.
- Ask voters to form a Title 32 special district in the Orchard Mesa portion of the city to take over ownership, operations and maintenance.
Council first told staff to explore the request for proposals and gather details on the special-district option. By summer, a citywide sales tax question had overtaken both.
What Issue 2B Would Pay For
On August 19, 2026, council unanimously approved both the resolution calling the election and the ballot title. Here is what the official ballot text in the Mesa County TABOR booklet provides:
- The rate: The city's sales and use tax rises from 3.39% to 3.46% starting January 1, 2027, an estimated $1.9 million in 2027, the first full fiscal year.
- The debt: The city may borrow $12 million, with a repayment cost of $19 million.
- The step-down: 0.04% of the increase ends on January 1 after the debt is paid off, and no later than December 31, 2047. The remaining 0.03% continues to pay for operating and maintaining the pool.
- The scope: Repair and replacement of mechanical, HVAC, electrical, filtration and other operating systems, with no expansion beyond the existing six-lane, 25-yard by 25-meter layout.
The city's project page adds that the estimate covers refurbished locker rooms and a replacement for the hot tub, which doesn't work. The scope comes from a 2023 evaluation by OLC Corporation, and the cost figures were updated in August 2026.
District A Councilmember Cody Kennedy explained the rate in everyday terms to KKCO:
"It's basically 7 cents on $100 spend. So, we're talking about a small fraction of a penny, but about half of it goes towards just paying off the pool work itself to rebuild the pool and not expand it but just rebuild the pool. The other part is for an ongoing subsidy."
In the same report, Kennedy said the city does not have roughly $12 million in discretionary funds for the project without voter approval.
A Neighborhood Pool, a Citywide Vote
Issue 2B is a city measure, and the KVNF voter guide lists who votes on it as "voters inside Grand Junction city limits." On Orchard Mesa, a household's say on the pool depends on whether its address is inside those limits, not on how close it is to Unaweep Avenue. Voters elsewhere in the city also decide the measure.
The question reached the ballot after a city survey. Mariann Taigman of the Save the Orchard Mesa Pool Committee told KKCO that 66% of respondents favored adding a question. She also said the committee started its work six years ago. According to the Western Slope Trellis ballot guide, the same survey split differently on the tax itself, with 38% in favor and 43% opposed. KJCT described residents as divided over the tax and debt but more supportive of letting voters decide, and quoted Carol Ward of the committee speaking for the facility.
Taigman told KKCO that "our valley really needs two indoor community swimming pools." Supporters held a Yes Rally on Saturday, September 12, which The Daily Sentinel covered. The county's TABOR booklet summarizes written comments in favor of Issue 2B. It notes that no comments against the measure were filed by the constitutional deadline.
The city has not published a set outcome if the measure fails. Its project page shows how the February options developed but does not tie a "no" vote to a closure date or a next step. The full history, cost documents and council discussion are on the city's Engage GJ Orchard Mesa page.
Getting a Ballot In by Tuesday
Mesa County scheduled mail ballots to go out the week of October 5, 2026. With Election Day five days after this post goes up, the Mesa County Elections drop-box and polling page lists these options:
- Drop boxes: Eight secure 24-hour boxes, which close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3.
- Central Services Voter Service and Polling Center: Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Saturday, October 31, again from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, November 2, and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.
- Additional polling centers: Locations including Clifton, Dinosaur Journey Museum, the Fairgrounds, Palisade Gym, CMU, CMU Tech, the Department of Human Services and Victory Life Church open on varying schedules between October 30 and November 3.
Until the agreement runs out at the end of December, the Orchard Mesa Pool is still on the city's schedule. Current hours and programs are on the city's Orchard Mesa Pool hours page. Membership options for the new center are at gjcity.org/crc.
This post explains a ballot measure and is general information. It isn't legal, tax or financial advice, so check how the measure applies to your situation with the right professional.
Public projects like the Orchard Mesa Pool and the new recreation center shape everyday life in the Grand Valley. If you'd like to talk through how projects like these figure into your plans for your Orchard Mesa home, The Agency Grand Junction can walk you through it, starting with a free home valuation.
