Washington CC tables discussion on pool contract

WASHINGTON - No contract is in place regarding who will operate the Washington Steele Family Aquatic Center after the city council voted 5-1 to table the discussion.

At its meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 17, Mayor Jaron Rosien told the council he received requests to table the discussion but advised against it in favor of speedily getting a contract in place. The pool is owned by the city of Washington but managed by the Washington YMCA. The city, specifically the parks department director, is responsible for maintenance and chemicals for the pool but the YMCA responsible for staffing, cleaning and other general tasks.

Council member Steven Gault said he had reservations about the Y running the pool in the past and has heard several complaints since the Y began managing the pool in 2014. He said if the parks director was expected to take on maintaining the Wellness Park the city is working to build, the city should hire its own staff to take care of the pool.

'It shouldn't be something that the YMCA uses for all of their swimming lessons and stuff for free,” he said, adding that anyone else who wants to use the pool is required to pay.

Amy Schulte, Director of the Washington YMCA, said the only kids who use the pool for free are those who are in the day camp the YMCA offers. Because the pool has a limited capacity, the campers use the pool in the morning to ensure the paying customers can use it in the afternoon when it is open to the public.

Rosien said by having the Y staff manage the pool, the city saves money because it allows the YMCA staff to host their activities, like swim lessons, and saves tax payer dollars by not hiring a city staff. City Administrator Brent Hinson said the city used to manage the pool but were never able to give it as much time and sturdy management as the Y staff can.

'As far as the safety of the kids and the users, I think it's much better,” he said.

Hinson said the pool is busiest during the summer, which is also when the parks department is the busiest. He said by having the Y staff in place, the city is able to devote time to other areas that need maintenance.

Gault said the safety was fine, but his concern was the Y getting to use the pool for free. Council member Brendan Delong agreed, saying he had 'reservations” the Y was using the pool for free, keeping the revenue it made and getting paid more with the management fee the city pays.

Council member Elaine Moore echoed that sentiment, saying the city gave the Y a 1 million dollar facility to use and although the Y does a good job managing it, she had concerns. She said the expectation on the amount of hours the Y was to be open was not clear.

She said because the facility is paid for with tax dollars and donations it needs to always be open with the exception of inclement weather. In the case of inclement weather, Moore said she wanted the pool to reopen after.

Schulte said during the 2019 pool season there were six closures: three for inclement weather and three for low attendance. She said the Y does not 'jump at the chance” to close the pool. There are standards in place for closing the pool during storms but as for low attendance, she said the standard is if there are less than 10 people in the pool for more than an hour, the Y chooses to close the facility.

If the Y does close the pool for any reason, rain checks are distributed to those in attendance to encourage them to come back another day. She said her interpretation of the management agreement is that it is the Y's decision whether to close the pool for the day.

Council member Danielle Pettit-Majewski said she agreed with the policy to close the pool for low attendance because it does not make sense to pay people to be there if there is no work to be done. She said she felt it was a reasonable cost to pay the Y to manage the pool because the city cannot run the facility.

She said she was less concerned with getting money back than she was with making sure kids know how to swim. She said the city's job is to provide a public service and by working with the Y, the two entities are able to achieve that.

Delong said he still wanted the Y to run the facility, but wanted to address some of the issues discussed before signing a contract that would lock the Y and the city into a three year agreement.

Schulte said having the Y manage the pool was the city's decision when its staff approached YMCA staff. She said when the city chose to build, it made a commitment to the citizens to maintain the facility and the Y did not create that expense. She said the Y does take on expenses by running the pool because it has to pay and train staff as well as carry $3 million in liability insurance.

The council proposed tabling the discussion until the next meeting but Pettit-Majewski objected, saying she felt the city needed to think about potentially losing a partner in the YMCA without having a backup plan as to who would run the pool. The motion was made to table the item with the intent to have at least a single year agreement in place. The motion carried 5-1 with Pettit-Majewski being the sole nay vote.

The council will revisit the discussion at its next meeting. Should the council pass the resolution signing the contract into effect, Schulte said it will then go to the YMCA board to approve at its next meeting.