MILLINOCKET – The town could have bids returned by Sept. 1 on a new, state-of-the-art outdoor community pool that the Town Council voted in favor of building Thursday night.

The council voted 6-0-1 and 7-0 to approve the pool’s final design and to authorize the application for a $1.2 million 15-year bond to cover the tentative cost of pool construction.

Councilor Bruce McLean abstained from the design approval vote, saying he did not feel comfortable with voting on the design until the pool’s construction costs are determined.

Peter J. Tuell, an engineer at Civil Engineering Services Inc. of Brewer, said he and Patric Santerre, an architect at Arcadia Designworks LLC of Portland, had a cost estimate, but they and the council opted not to release it until the bids are returned.

The bond issue figure, Town Manager Eugene Conlogue said, is not necessarily synonymous with the construction costs.

“We have until late September to change that [bond] application,” Conlogue said.

McLean suggested that the council hold to the $1.2 million bond figure and use any money left over if the bids come in lower for other minor construction projects.

The outdoor pool’s conceptual designs feature four racing lanes, a toddler wading area with safety rails, a mushroom fountain that sprays water, two diving boards, sloping sides and depths and a large slide, Santerre said.

Other sharp touches, Santerre said, include a gently curved roof with sunroof, a bathhouse with changing rooms and a large grass strip suitable for sunbathing or light outdoor recreation. The pool will be located amid the town recreation complex near Stearns High School.

Santerre and Tuell outlined the design and some changes they could make to it to lower construction costs. Bids could go out within a few weeks that will determine whether that is necessary, Santerre said.

“The goal of this meeting is to allow the council and public to look at this stuff. After this meeting we are hoping you will allow the project” to go to bid, he said.

If all goes well contracts will be signed by mid-August. Excavation and concrete pouring would begin in the fall and finish in the spring, with the pool opening by July 1, 2007, he said.