Washington reaches pool agreement with Y

WASHINGTON — City council members reached a unanimous if hesitant consensus vote to approve a management agreement for the municipal pool with the Washington YMCA Tuesday night.

If approved by the YMCA board at their own meeting next week, the agreement would raise the city’s annual management fee to the Y from its current rate of $3,000 to $15,000 a year by 2025. The item first saw the spotlight at a regular meeting in September, but was delayed by initial miscommunications and later by negotiations between city officials and the Y.

"I’ve been spending a lot of time and sleepless nights thinking about this because I want the outcome to be the best for the city, and the community, and for us and the Y,“ City Administrator Deanna McCusker said. ”At this time, we do not feel that’s it’s in the best interests that the city take the pool back over. The Y has been doing this since 2013, it has been working, there’s a lot of time involved.“

McCusker said returning to the city-managed model would trade off with staff time elsewhere, citing her experience in other cities with busy municipal pools.

“We will be spending a lot of time, and that will take away from other things that we’re doing,” she said. “Last week, we had a goal setting session. Running the pool was not identified as a goal for the city.”

Some amendments were made before a vote on the resolution. The city made some minor wording changes to the contract, added conditions for a financial report from the Y after next season, and added language to explicitly spell out Iowa Health and Human Services as the pool’s regulatory agency.

“I’d like the specific regulatory agency that we’re dealing with (listed,)” Council Member Elaine Moore said. “So we’re clear on what agency standards we are using … it makes it very open so there are no questions.”

The payment amount was increased from the September proposal. Rather than capping at $13,000 per year as initially planned, the city will pay $15,000 a year starting in 2025 if the agreement goes through. McCusker said the change was based on rising insurance rates for the industry.

Another change from the proposed agreement concerns the Y’s discretion to close the pool early during slow hours. The Y pitched a clause that would allow managers to close the doors “If there have been less than 10 swimmers for one hour or more,” or in the case of severe weather.

The version passed by the council removed that language, allowing early closures only in the case of severe weather or low temperatures, according to new wording provided by McCusker after the meeting.

“We are offering a service, and those kids have paid to go, that’s not fair to them,” she said. “I don’t want to get those phone calls.”

YMCA of Washington County CEO Amy Schulte signaled that the issue could present a sticking point.

“The issue we have seen (is,) if we’re paying 8-10 staff to stay there, and maybe they are just serving two, three, five, or 10 kids, those are generating additional losses,” she said. “If you’re paying us to manage the facility, then we’re hoping that you’re entrusting us to make the best decision possible … I understand that it’s a service, but it’s also not the best business decision.”

Schulte said the nonprofit had a good record on the issue.

“It’s been our policy for the past three years … that we were not closing early unless there was a storm, and that we would make every effort to reopen if there was enough time left in the swim day,” she said.

Early closures also remain the main point of contention from a city perspective, according to Mayor Jaron Rosien.

“That is the biggest pushback I’m getting,” he said. “The pushback most of these elected officials get is if four, five, seven, 10 people are asked to leave … that’s the main thing I’ve heard from those around me.”

While the vote of approval Tuesday night was a unanimous 6-0, some council members said they still held reservations.

Council Member Steve Gault, who went on to vote “begrudgingly, yes,” on the agreement, said he worried the Y would back out of the deal once its own indoor pool was complete, a project the nonprofit is currently fundraising for.

“I will just about bet a paycheck that we’re going to have to do this in three years ourselves,” he said.

Schulte pushed back on that argument at the meeting.

“When the city approached the YMCA to take over this amenity for the community, the whole goal was to establish efficiencies,” she said. “I don’t see that their intention is to say, ‘We are going to only run our pool, and we aren’t going to run your pool,’ … because none of those efficiencies go away, none of those reasons that made it a good idea in the first place go away. So I’m not sure why that’s the feeling.”

Council Member Fran Stigers said he didn’t think the aquatics director from the Y was qualified.

“According to your standards, the national YMCA requires a director of aquatics to have CPR, first aid … and a B.A.,” he claimed. “That’s your standards, not mine … people are going to come to us and ask why.”

Schulte contested that assertion as well. While the current aquatics director does not have a bachelor’s degree, the YMCA’s national rule states that aquatics directors can alternatively have, “one to two years related experience and/or training, or equivalent combination of education and experience,” according to the organization’s website.

Rosien said he was pleased with the vote’s outcome as the final decision goes to the YMCA board for approval with amendments.

“I am happy that we got there,” he said. “You can have concerns with something and still vote ‘yes’ for the greater good, knowing that there’s pieces that may not be perfect.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com