Hilliard City Council to YMCA: Thanks, but no thanks
Hilliard City Council moved July 11 to appropriate $40 million toward the estimated $66.4-million community recreation and wellness center and firmly decided it would not consider outsourcing its operation to the YMCA of Central Ohio.
City Council on June 27 tabled the ordinance at its second and final reading for further consideration, including more detailed financials that were presented July 11, after which council approved the measure 5-1.
Council members Tina Cottone, Pete Marsh, Omar Tarazi, Andy Teater and Cynthia Vermillion voted in favor of the ordinance. Les Carrier voted against it. Peggy Hale was absent.
In a separate vote, Tarazi motioned that City Council direct staff to collect and report to its members whether it was beneficial for the city to consider an agreement with the YMCA of Central Ohio to operate the community recreation and wellness center in conjunction with, or as a replacement for, the Hilliard Ray Patch Family YMCA, 4515 Cosgray Road.
Carrier seconded the motion, which failed 4-2, with only Tarazi and Carrier in support of it.
The result was not unexpected as City Manager Michelle Crandall had reiterated July 11 that the city’s model going forward does not account for the YMCA of Central Ohio operating the new facility.
Crandall told council members she believes the Hilliard Ray Patch Family YMCA and the city’s new community recreation and wellness center can coexist.
Crandall said she is open to dialogue with the YMCA concerning programming and how to “survive and thrive” together but that the city is “not looking at the Y to operate it.”
Such a consideration was not discussed with the city successfully promoting Issue 22 last year, Crandall said.
Marsh backed up Crandall’s view.
“I want the city to operate the facility. I am a member of the Y and want both to exist, (but) the community center is to be run by the city,” Marsh said.
Tony Collins, president and CEO of the YMCA of Central Ohio with 13 sites, including Hilliard, told council members July 11 he is “disappointed” the city and the YMCA are not collaborating.
The YMCA of Central Ohio has a partnership in Reynoldsburg where the city built the facility that is operated by the YMCA of Central Ohio at no tax-payer cost to Reynoldsburg, according to Collins.
In a committee of the whole meeting July 11 that preceded the full council meeting, members reviewed financials concerning the proposed community recreation and wellness center, including a forecast that showed the community recreation and wellness center is to operate at a deficit.
According to PROS, one of several of the city’s consultants for the project, the campus is to recoup about 77% of the first-year operating costs through membership sales and other fees.
According to the report, the center would generate about $4 million in revenue against about $5.2 million in operating expenses in the first year.
But such a deficit is typical as recreation and parks services are considered an amenity for residents, rather than a made-for-profit model, said Ed Merritt, director of Hilliard’s recreation and parks department.
It was that report that motivated Tarazi to ask whether the city should explore if the YMCA of Central Ohio could operate the facility as a non-government entity, at a lower cost, he said.
Carrier said he opposes moving forward so soon with a city-operated community recreation and wellness center because it “cannibalizes” the YMCA and could potentially cause its closure and a loss of aquatic space for residents.
Carrier, from the dais, asked Collins if the YMCA could compete against the city’s future community recreation and wellness center.
“We will do all in our power to stay open,” Collins replied.
Speaking after the meeting, Collins said none of the 13 current YMCAs are open in any suburb with a recreation center as large and as near to the one Hilliard will build less than a mile away from the Hilliard Ray Patch Family YMCA.
Carrier said he fears that the city’s current community recreation and wellness center is not designed to meet the current, much less future demand, for aquatics.
That will worsen if the YMCA were to close, he said.
“What we are doing is not unique (and) it is not enough,” Carrier said.
Carrier is further critical of the path on a number of levels, he said.
"We are unnecessarily rushing this project," Carrier said July 12.
Carrier said his concerns include the refusal to consider the YMCA operating it to possibly reduce operating costs, that the cost per square foot of Hilliard's project well exceeds the cost per square foot of a community center that Upper Arlington will build and the inclusion of an Ohio State University integrated medical center in the facility.
But Teater said any further delay in proceeding to construction will only cause the project to cost more because of inflation, or require the city to reduce amenities to stay on budget.
Don McCarthy, president of McCarthy Consulting and overseeing the project on behalf of city, also reiterated the possibility of increased costs in waiting and that calculations of cost per square feet are not equivalent comparisons because of the variables, such as total size and the kinds of amenities built within.
Hilliard resident Cara Boettner appealed to City Council on June 27 to reconsider its decision to forgo construction of a 50-meter pool to meet the demand for aquatic-related uses by children, adults and athletes at the high schools.
“There is simply not enough lane time for private swim lessons, swim clubs, dive clubs, synchronized swimming, water polo, water aerobics and high school teams,” and it is exacerbated by the recent closure of Aquatic Adventures, Boettner said.
Approval of the programming was necessary to allow the architect to advance to schematic design, Crandall said.
Four members backed Crandall’s request: Teater, Marsh, Cottone and Vermillion, but Carrier, Hale and Tarazi voted against the measure.
A 50-meter pool would cost about $24 to $29 million to construct, while a 25-meter pool would cost about $8 million, according to Keith Hayes, principal at BRS Architecture, one of multiple construction groups working on the community recreation and wellness center.
“I understand your heartfelt advocacy. I wish we had the money,” Vermillion said June 27.
The ordinance approved July 11 appropriates only a portion of the revenue needed to construct the 85,000-square-foot community recreation and wellness center.
In March, City Council approved an ordinance authorizing the issuance of bonds not to exceed $95 million for the design and construction of the Hilliard Recreation and Wellness Campus.
A future ordinance funding the remainder of the cost must be passed by the end of the year, Crandall said.
A groundbreaking for the campus is set for May 2023 with an opening scheduled for the first quarter of 2025, according to Ball.
The city purchased the land last year for $4.41 million.
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Hilliard City Council to YMCA: Thanks, but no thanks
