A former mayor of the Queenstown Lakes district and an incumbent councillor have insisted that ratepayers should not foot the bill of any modifications made to the faulty fast-speed hydroslide in Alpine Aqualand.
Aquatics general manager Cam Sheppard, Queenstown Aquatic Centre project manager Ken Gousmett and Aeromarine Industries Ltd operations manager Simon Robb will assess the closed hydroslide on Monday then report to Lakes Leisure board members.
Up to 69 customers have received "minor injuries" on the slide since the $18 million centre opened on May 31. The slower-speed hydroslide remains open and passes are discounted until both slides are back in operation.
Former mayor Warren Cooper said he and councillors during his second term, between 1998 and 2001, tried to "dampen down expectations" of building an expensive facility through the years the aquatic centre was proposed and developed.
They sought to meet the public demand for a swimming facility but for about $7 million and aimed to keep annual operating costs down, he said.
"It cost much more than it needed to because of its very expensive design, simply because they thought that if they wanted it to look like the Remarkables . . . it would be a worthwhile investment," Mr Cooper said.
"From what I ascertain, the kids and parents like it very much and that's good for their enjoyment. But the bottom line is that it's an expensive luxury and it must be very galling for those associated with it to be continually rectifying design faults.
"I'm suspicious these costs are going to hit us on the back of the head like a baseball bat."
Mr Gousmett this week told the Otago Daily Times the slide was under a full 12-month warranty and there would be "no cost to the public, the council or Alpine Aqualand for the fixing of the slide".
Mr Gousmett said Alpine Aqualand's copper heating-coil replacement would be covered by the warranty or an insurance claim. The lap-pool-lining pressure fault had been fixed under the warranty.
Mr Cooper said he questioned if insurance companies would "tidy up faults [ad] infinitum".
"You can always use the insurance company as a walking stick but they won't tolerate it [forever]."
Cr Vanessa van Uden said she was not critical of the Alpine Aqualand facility or staff, but thought a council-controlled organisation running a community facility was not the right approach because of its extra layer of bureaucracy.
Cr van Uden said she did not know enough to say if she was surprised about the fast-speed hydroslide closure, "but they have made the right call to say it's unacceptable there are people getting hurt".
She said she understood the designer would be asked to make modifications to the slide to make it safer.
"The only thing I'm concerned about is that the responsibility and cost for remedying those [design faults] belongs to those responsible, not the ratepayer."
