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Friday — May 14, 2004

News

Plot thickens in YMCA debate

Ketchum Council wrestles with financing options


By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

An evolving debate over how the city of Ketchum should help finance the proposed Wood River Community YMCA came to a head this week, as City Council members found themselves divided over a variety of funding options.

In a special meeting Tuesday, May 11, council members engaged in a lively two-hour discussion about a proposal by the Ketchum-based YMCA group to absorb the city’s entire $450,000 parks and recreation budget. However, in the end, consensus seemed quite distant.

Council members ultimately scheduled a follow-up meeting on the subject for Monday, May 17, at 4:30 p.m. in Ketchum City Hall.

The meeting Tuesday was highlighted by a set of poignant remarks from Councilman Baird Gourlay, who said he believes it is time for the city to determine what level of support it should lend to the YMCA’s planned $16 million recreation complex and community center.

Gourlay argued that he believes Ketchum should establish some form of alliance with the YMCA, largely because the city cannot afford to build its own municipal recreation facility with a swimming pool and ice rink.

"We’re never going to build a pool and we’re never going to build a rink if we don’t go to the outside," Gourlay said. "We need to make it work."

At issue Tuesday was an April 21 proposal by the YMCA to take over operation of the city’s recreation programs and collect for 10 years the Parks and Recreation Department’s entire $450,000 annual budget.

The YMCA plans to leverage the money to help finance a state-of-the-art, 85,000-square-foot community complex with a swimming pool and ice rink. The facility is planned for the city’s Park and Ride Lot, at the corner of Warm Springs and Saddle roads.

The city has already agreed to lease a portion of the 5.8-acre Park and Ride Lot to the YMCA for $1 per year.

The YMCA financing proposal was put forth as an alternative to a 2003 city resolution to support the YMCA with funds from a $3 million revenue bond, which would be subject to approval by city voters.

As a part of the new financing plan, the YMCA proposed to maintain all of the city’s recreation programs but not the city’s parks.

Tom Praggastis, a leading member of the YMCA board of directors, argued that the proposal was issued under the assumption that the city has a made a commitment to fund the YMCA project but does not have any money in its budget to do so.

"The city should honor its commitments and work in good faith … to fulfill them," he noted in a May 11 letter to the council. "Prior City Councils already made the decision to support this project."

Councilwoman Terry Tracy, the former parks and recreation director, has stated repeatedly that she believes the city should abide by the terms of its 2003 resolution to seek voter approval for a revenue bond.

On Tuesday, Tracy reiterated concerns that the city would be spending unnecessarily if it gave up the entire $450,000 parks and recreation budget and still had to pay to maintain the city’s parks. City officials have estimated the cost of maintaining a scaled-down parks department at approximately $250,000.

"We have to decide whether parks and recreation are a normal function of a municipality," Tracy said.

Councilwoman Christina Potters said she wants to get public opinion at a "town hall meeting" before she makes a decision on whether to fund the YMCA.

Gourlay stressed that he wants to see the city act decisively to build on the momentum the YMCA has gained in recent months while bringing its fund-raising total to $4 million.

"Every single person I’ve talked to says they want a pool and they want a rink," he said.

Gourlay said he believes voters would likely support a city funding plan for the YMCA if it called for the city to own a portion of the project, such as the swimming pool.

City Council President Randy Hall said he might be willing to subscribe to the YMCA takeover of the recreation sector of the Parks and Recreation Department.

"It sounds to me like we’ve found the partner that we’re looking for and it just happens to be the best recreation organization in the world," Hall said.

Hall said he believes the city might be able to contract for services to maintain the city’s parks for as little as $64,000.

However, a memo issued Wednesday by Jennifer Smith, city parks superintendent, estimates that the city would spend three to five times that amount—up to $322,000 annually—to contract for the majority of the maintenance services the parks department conducts.

Mayor Ed Simon has indicated that he will schedule a public town meeting on the YMCA financing options before asking the City Council to vote on the matter.


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