However, working party chairman Cr Colin Weatherall has also left the door open for a change in direction, saying more information and consultation is needed before the best option is confirmed.
In November, the working party concluded more than a year of work by recommending a new Mosgiel swimming complex be built to address overcrowding at the Moana pool complex in Dunedin.
The Mosgiel pool would serve the entire southern catchment of Dunedin, and could be built in "three to five years", Cr Weatherall said at the time.
The second option was a $13.2 million upgrade of Moana Pool, which Cr Weatherall believed could follow in 10 to 15 years.
The recommendations were presented to the community development committee in November, when councillors voted to refer the Mosgiel pool proposal to next week's pre-draft budget meetings for consideration as the priority project.
However, a council staff report has recommended delaying any decision on a new swimming complex for 12 months, to allow additional analysis of the options.
That would include looking again at demand for pool space in Dunedin, as well as further financial analysis of the options.
"Careful consideration of any upgrade, once a decision is made on the preferred option ... will need to be undertaken."
The work by staff would be carried out over the next three to six months, and would be followed by a report back to the community development committee before next year's annual plan meetings.
Cr Weatherall said talk of options, rather than the Mosgiel pool as the preferred option, had prompted some questions, but he reiterated his view the Mosgiel pool remained the frontrunner.
Any suggestion the staff report appeared to be stepping back from the Mosgiel pool option was "the view of the staff", he said.
"I think council's probably more than able to make its own decision."
However, the additional information requested, including the impact an upgrade of Moana could have on carparking, could yet "sway the thinking, possibly", he said.
"There's no reason at the moment for the working party to change its recommendation.
The work we've done to date clearly says the southern district pool, in the southern catchment of the city, is the priority.
"But let's get some money into the budget, in whatever period it is, and see what our best option is."
Instead of delaying consideration of the project for 12 months, Cr Weatherall said he would "very likely" be pushing at next week's budget meetings for the project to be included in long-term plans to allow public consultation on it this year.
That would still give council staff time to complete the additional work required and report back to budget meetings in May, when plans were reconsidered following consultation, he said.
He remained "upbeat" about the project, and confident it could be included in council planning for 2014-15 or shortly after, when the council's financial position would be "much stronger".
