Friday, July 2, 2004

Petition demands vote on YMCA

Former Ketchum mayor leads drive to establish new ordinance

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

A former mayor of Ketchum has filed a petition demanding that the city seek voter approval of any plan to fund or convey public land to the Wood River Community YMCA.

Larry Young, who served as Ketchum mayor from January 1988 to January 1992, this week issued a so-called "initiative petition" to Mayor Ed Simon and the Ketchum City Council, demanding that the city adhere to a February 2003 resolution that outlines policies for supporting the proposed YMCA.

The petition essentially requests that city legislators enact a new ordinance that mandates the city gain approval from a majority of voters before providing land for the YMCA or following through on a plan to confer $3 million in public funds to support the project.

Sandy Cady, Ketchum city clerk, said Wednesday that the preliminary filing required to initiate the petition was still incomplete but could be finalized before the end of the week.

Meanwhile, Teresa Beahen, the new CEO and executive director of the Wood River Community YMCA, said she is not opposed to the city following its February 2003 policy statement.

"The YMCA board and staff are more than comfortable (with the 2003 policy) and would encourage taking it to a vote," Beahen said.

Still, the move by Young complicates an already convoluted issue.

The Wood River Community YMCA this year has actively been increasing its efforts to build a state-of-the-art $16 million recreational complex and community center on the city-owned Park and Ride Lot, north of downtown.

To date, the organization has raised $4 million and anticipates securing an additional $8 million in private funds by the end of 2004. YMCA officials are finalizing plans to start construction on the facility—which would occupy less than one-third of the Park and Ride site—in spring 2005.

The efforts have been made pursuant to a February 2003 City Council resolution to "match the initial $3 million of charitable pledges by timely seeking city voter approval of a revenue bond in the amount of $3 million."

The city resolution also declared that "a portion of the Park and Ride property is reserved to the Wood River Y" and could be leased to the organization for $1 per year.

In April, YMCA board members presented a plan that called for allocating the Ketchum Parks and Recreation Department’s entire $450,000 annual budget to the YMCA, in exchange for a guarantee that the organization would maintain all of the city’s existing recreational programs.

The proposal requested that the $450,000 sum be conferred to the YMCA for 10 years, in lieu of the plan to seek voter approval for a revenue bond.

In May, council members tentatively agreed that the city should seek to honor the terms of its 2003 resolution. At the same time, they decided to discard the YMCA’s alternative funding plan.

Although Young’s petition specifically demands that the city conform to the 2003 resolution, it also outlines new policies to govern city support of the YMCA project.

The proposed ordinance demands the city:

• Appraise the Park and Ride Lot, inform voters of its value and hold a special election to determine if a majority of citizens support using a portion of the parcel for the YMCA.
  
   
• Seek voter approval of a revenue bond for $3 million before issuing any money to the YMCA.
  
   
• Prohibit any contract that would outsource city recreation services to the YMCA.
  
   
• Declare that the city will not "be responsible" for the operating costs of the YMCA.

By law, Young must submit the signatures of 20 Ketchum voters to the city to effectively initiate his petition. Then, the petitioners will have 60 days to submit the signatures of 128 registered voters who support the petition.

If the signatures are submitted within the deadline, the council is provided 30 days to adopt the proposed ordinance. If legislators do not do so, a special election to consider the ordinance must be conducted.

If the petition criteria are met in approximately the next 45 days, a special election could conceivably be planned for Nov. 2, Cady said.

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