Photo by Jon Anderson.
People take part in a Fourth of July celebration at the Birchtree Swim & Racquet Club in Hoover. The pool needs significant repairs.
Pleas from the Birchtree Swim & Racquet Club for the city of Hoover to make repairs at the club’s swimming pool now face a significant hurdle.
For 25 years, the city and club both have been operating under the assumption that the city owned the pool and tennis courts and the club has a lease to use the facility through March 2093.
The lease was signed in April 1994 by former Hoover Parks and Recreation Director Jim Fisher and former Birchtree Swim & Racquet Club President Kim Cannon and witnessed by former and now deceased Hoover City Attorney Jack Harrison.
But now, city officials say they can find no record that the Hoover City Council ever took legal action to accept the deed of ownership for the property, nor voted to approve the lease back to the club.
Both actions are requirements under Alabama law for cities to assume ownership of or lease property, City Administrator Allan Rice said. Thus, the city now contends it doesn’t own the Birchtree Swim & Racquet Club and the lease agreement is null and void, Rice said.
That would mean that the Birchtree Swim & Racquet Club is the rightful owner and thus responsible for any improvements on the property, he said.
City attorneys discovered the new legal complications as they researched the original documents to address current questions about what kind of repairs or improvements the city can make to the facility, Rice said.
Marc Yaeger, the current president of the club, said the club’s board of directors never saw this issue coming and doesn’t know quite yet what to make of it.
Yaeger said his initial thought is that if the city has acted as if it has owned the property for 25 years, the city does own it.
However, the club has attorneys reviewing the matter and is trying to understand all the implications of the city’s position, he said. They want to wait until after the pool season closes in September and then decide their position, he said.
“We just want to make sure we have the right information and make the best decision there is for Birchtree,” Yaeger said.
Rice said the club might decide it is in its best interests to accept ownership of the facility. As the owner, the club would be able to take a mortgage out on the property to help fund needed repairs, he said.
Architects’ construction estimates obtained by the city indicated needed repairs would cost between $520,000 and $675,000, Rice said.
Another option would be for the Hoover City Council to now take the legal actions that would be necessary to accomplish the deed transfer and lease arrangements that everyone thought already existed, Rice said.
However, if that were to occur, any repairs or improvements made by the city would depend on the terms of whatever new lease were.
Some city officials already question the city’s responsibility to make repairs even under the lease that was signed in 1994.
According to that lease, the city is not obligated to make any repairs not specifically outlined in the lease. The lease also said the club is responsible for keeping the air conditioning equipment, electric wiring, water pipes, water closets, drains, sewer lines and other plumbing on the premises in good order and repair and do all repairs, modifications and replacements which may be required by laws or ordinances.
Hoover Council President Gene Smith said while some people think the city should make repairs to the pool, other residents don’t think the city should be investing money in a facility leased to a private group. Some people believe the city should treat the Birchtree pool the same as private pools like the Shades Cliff pool in Bluff Park.
Other people say the city’s money would be better spent on building a public pool that is open to any Hoover resident, he said. Smith and Councilman Curt Posey said the council has not discussed the matter as a group since learning of the new legal issues.
