The board of directors for the South Sound Titans, an independent swim team drawing athletes from Bonney Lake, Sumner and Puyallup, have successfully proposed to manage the Sumner High School swimming pool.

They were the only ones submitting a proposal to the Sumner School District, which planned to close the pool in August if no one stepped forward to manage the facility.

Now, work will begin to determine how the two parties will proceed in transferring management.

“Our next step is to do a walkthrough and assess the state of the pool facility,” said Shawn Jones, a board member and coach of the Titans. “(We will) identify problem areas, particularly those that will require large amounts of capital if they go bad.

“Basically what it comes down to is establishing the sort of landlord and tenant relationship, and figuring out who is responsible for what aspects of the facility.”

The Titans board may incorporate a separate for-profit organization to manage the pool in order to shield the swim team from the liabilities of pool operation. Board members are researching other regional pools operated by management companies and studying how they conduct business.

Jones has spoken with Ken Spencer, who manages two pools in the Puget Sound region.

“His pools see profit, but it took two years to get to that point,” Jones said. “I’m not sure the district is willing to say ‘Let’s hold on for two years to see the pool become profitable.’ I’m going to have to ensure the pool is profitable from the first year.”

The Titans board has been active in saving the Sumner pool since rumors began circulating about a potential pool closure and the district released its Request For Proposals, seeking an outside management agency. Board member Scott Anderson reached out to Neil Johnson, the mayor of neighboring Bonney Lake, to ask for support in saving the pool and Johnson subsequently mentioned the issue in a council workshop. The city of Bonney Lake does not have jurisdiction over the pool, but the pool serves swimmers from that community.

“My daughter uses the pool for swim, other swim sports use the pool and a lot of seniors go down there to swim,” Johnson said. “Our hope is that the pool can remain open until the cities have an alternative. If we can get it by 2013 to 2014, what the long-term solution will be is to have a YMCA with a recreational pool so that the swim teams can use it.”