City, Y reach agreement on Wellness Park scheduling

WASHINGTON - Three proposed agreements regarding the new Wellness Park in Washington were discussed during a recent City Council meeting.

City Administrator Brent Hinson said over the past six months, the city along with area organizations have been discussing agreements for the operations and use of the Wellness Park.

'All of the main entities with regular interest in using the fields have been engaged in these discussions, and I believe we have reached a very equitable arrangement for all involved,” Hinson said in a memo.

The three agreements are:

' Shared use agreement,

' Scheduling agreement.

' Recreation services and field management agreement.

The shared use agreement encompasses the North Soccer Complex, the Wellness Park, the Water Tower Field, Green and Redlinger Fields, Lincoln Field and Stewart Field.

In the agreement, the city and Washington School District allow the YMCA, Washington Areas Soccer Program, Washington Area Baseball Council and Washington Area Softball Association to use all the fields. An operations committee of representatives from the entities is established to review policies, settle disputes, set maintenance procedures and more.

Hinson said combining all of the fields encourages people to be part of the agreement and follow the rules. He said the agreement is set up to allow new organizations to join.

Each organizations will pay $10 a year per participant to be in the agreement.

The YMCA will be in charge of operating the concessions stands Monday through Friday. Events outside of those days will be staffed by the organization responsible or food trucks can be brought in. Organizations that operate the concessions stands and use food provided by the Y will pay a fee on each item but will be able to keep a portion of the proceeds.

The scheduling agreement puts the YMCA in charge of scheduling all of the fields. The agreement states the school fields are exclusively for the school during school days and school-sponsored activities.

Council member Steve Gault asked what is preventing the YMCA from getting first pick of dates.

A section of the recreation services and fields management agreement states before Sept. 30 YMCA will meet with the baseball and softball organizations to discuss scheduling. Before Feb. 28 YMCA will meet with the soccer organization to discuss scheduling.

Mayor Jaron Rosien said it works to address the concern. Hinson said there was in-depth discussion about working through conflicts.

The recreation services and fields management agreement combines the current recreation services agreement with the new responsibilities of the Wellness Park.

The city will pay the YMCA for all recreation programing, an $8,000 increase from the previous agreement. Hinson said the agreement has not been revised since 2015, and the YMCA has increase the amount of services it is providing for the city.

Council member Danielle Pettit-Majewski said there is no way the city can provide the activities and resources to the community without the Y.

The responsibilities of the YMCA are:

' Providing comprehensive you and adult programing,

' Keeping and managing a master schedule for the Wellness Park,

' Operating the concessions stands and purchasing all supplies.

' Preparing the fields for games, with paint or chalk provided by the city.

The city is responsible for maintaining the fields at the Wellness Park and cleaning the concessions stands while the YMCA is responsible for dragging ball fields infield and picking up trash.

The agreement is only through Dec. 31. Hinson said the city will learn about the financial specifics in the first year and can reevaluate for the future.

YMCA CEO Amy Schulte said the Y has hired a college student to manage the concessions stands and Wellness Park through the summer.

Rosien said the agreements are a 'giant experiment” that this is a starting place. Hinson agreed, stating there will be changes and things will come up that were not expected.