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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 05-28 Suburbs turn to YMCA to run pools and fitness centers PIONEER PRESS Suburbs turn to YMCA to run pools and fitness centers Updated:0528/2015 11:35:40 PM CDT TwinCities.com Suburbs turn to YMCA to run pools and fitness centers When cities want to get out of the aquatics business, they call the pool guys. The YMCA is taking over management of Maplewood's indoor pools next week. When the city's aquatic center reopens June 2 after repairs, it will be staffed by Y lifeguards and swim instructors. The city also hopes the partnership with the large nonprofit organization will revive other programs at its 20-year-old community center. "We hope to draw on their fitness and marketing expertise,"said Maplewood Park and Recreation Director DuWayne Konewko. "The YMCA shares our mission of creating strong families and communities through youth development and recreational opportunities." For suburbs across the east metro, contracting with the Y has become a popular solution for operating swimming and other recreation programs. The YMCA's various arrangements range from a simple deal to run West St. Paul's outdoor pool to Maplewood's new staffing arrangement to multimillion-dollar taxpayer subsidies for riew YMCA buildings. The largest public contribution to date is in the northern suburb of Forest Lake, which is paying for two- thirds of a new$14 million YMCA despite some community opposition. That project is breaking ground this summer and will be the Y's 24th branch in the Twin Cities. It follows similar construction cost-sharing arrangements with the cities of Hastings, Lino Lakes, Elk River and White Bear Lake. "We have a number of different relationships, and I'd say they're all unique; they're based on the needs and constituency of the community," said YMCA Chief Operating Officer Todd Tibitts. We try to make it as customized as possible. So, what we're doing in Maplewood is unique to Mapfewood. What we're doing in Forest Lake, with new development, is unique to Forest Lake. But more often than not, when you see a YMCA developing, you.see them developing with partners." Taxpayers of one city can and will drive to neighboring cities to swim or work out, and part of the debate is whether special perks are offered to residents of the host city. � �� But having a pool and fitness center in the neighborhood is seen by some municipalities as a public amenity akin ' � �� to a park, as well as a way to lure new residents. And ```X' outsourcing has an appea�. ��� "This was our way of having a reasonably high-quality community center available to our residents, but not run ��`� by the city," said Mark Sather, city manager in White Bear Lake, where public funds covered nearly half the - � cost of a YMCA remodel in 2010. In return, White Bear � � ����� �� �"� � f` ` ''"`'�"�'��"°���`"�L`��°�'' Lake residents get discounts on memberships and swim 76zt�rsday. May�8. 20�i;�.(Pion��r Pr�ss:John AuteYJ lessons and a handful of free daily passes each year. "Government should do what it does best, and if you don't do something all the time, you're not going to get good at it. The YMCA blows everyone else away when it comes to water safety. We could be out there as a city trying to train young people to be lifeguards, but why do it if the YMCA does it better?" WHY THE Y? When the Maplewood Community Center opened in 1994, it was hailed as a source of identity for the ' first-ring St. Paul suburb. In addition to the recently renovated indoor aquatic center, the 90,000-square- foot building at 2100 White Bear Ave. includes a banquet hall and kitchen, two gymnasiums and a 300- seat theater that the city leases to a youth theater company. It also was designed to break even, or close to it. But fees have not kept up with costs. Over the past five years, the number of kids taking swim lessons dropped 20 percent to 500, and overall visits to the pools and fitness center dropped 7 percent, said Konewko. The city hopes the YMCA's marketing heft can bring in more people, especially families. Maplewood will pay the YMCA an annual fee of$257,000--about what the city currently spends --to staff the pools, market the fitness center and supervise lifeguards at beaches on Silver Lake in North St. Paul and on White Bear Lake in Mahtomedi, which contract with Maplewood for services. The city will keep group pool rental fees and 25 percent of swim lesson fees. "If the YMCA can do better than we did, then in theory, the city may get some revenue back," Konewko said. The YMCA plans to hold open houses and public pool parties this summer and will offer six eight-week swim-lesson sessions, up from four last year. � � �`� -� �.. ,.� Z.�+. , r � �� ,� � One advantage the YMCA has over ""-''�., 1.• . -� '� _,�,�:� cities is its ability to raise private funds. �``` '� '� rt"��k Through two foundation grants, for � � example, the Y plans to give 250 � .. . �� Maplewood children free water safety :� classes. � `.r, � , "Water safety for us is not a business. ,�,.,; t � It's a passion," said Shane Hoefer, � . , �...�._ ��'�' �� executive director of the White Bear - =�°'—� ""'� ��-=•� �� - � a� Area YMCA, which oversees programs � —_ .� in Maplewood. "We're going to find 4 -� ways to get that for kids regardless of lnstructors Jar�a KrauU<�arn E; �,, ,,. .���,r's�r l�<<d tl�e &#v2�;7;Polyia�og&#8297;beginners s�vim class a!tl7e YMCf1 in White EearLake on Whether they Can pay fOf�@SSOIIS Of Tliiirsday, May IIOt.�� Maplewood also laid off its operations manager. A new YMCA employee will run the aquatic center and another will work with city staff to improve marketing, food sales, child care and programming at the community center. The YMCA does not disclose wages but says its compensation packages for lifeguards and other employees are comparable to what cities pay. "Government budgets are getting slashed, and we have to find better ways to leverage our resources," said Konewko. "If that involves collaborating with nonprofits, that's what we should be doing. The YMCA brings expertise to the table. We want to ensure the viability of the community center. That's the goal at the end of the day." 'NOT EVERYBODY IS GOING TO USE IT' I Forest Lake taxpayers are funding$9 million of a$14.25 million YMCA project,plus land valued at$1 million.Many residents voiced desire for a pool,and the city council decided the Y offered the best deal despite some opposition. "We felt that a one-time capital contribution was a good investment compared with running a community center,"said city administrator Aaron Parrish."The YMCA runs pools,and they get their operating practices down to a science.They can assess their business practices against other facilities in their system.You can't do that in a standalone municipal center,where everyone has a unique prototype.This arrangement gives us the ability to insulate a city from ongoing operating costs,and given where our budgets are and our economy is,thaYs just critical." Residents will get six free passes per year and have use of the splashpad,gymnasium and community rooms in the building.Those opposed to the public investment said that perks for residents weren't enough,that the deal would hurt locally owned fitness centers and that it would burden homeowners with an additional property tax of$70 a year on an$200,000 average value home. Concerns like these have made the eastern suburb of Cottage Grove move slowly.The YMCA ran the city's outdoor pool until usage declined and the costs went up,said Cottage Grove Parks and Recreation Director Zac Dockter.The city closed the pool in 2011 and replaced it with an outdoor spashpad,which costs less to run and doesn't need lifeguards.The city has explored subsidizing a new YMCA facility. "But you have to think about what you're asking of the taxpayers,"said Dockter."When iYs all said and done,residents still have to pay a monthly membership fee,so you just have to be very careful as you proceed.Not everybody is going to use it,so iYs not an easy decision.The conversation isn't over.But iYs on hold for now." OTHER CITIES,OTHER OPTIONS Cities vary in how they provide fitness and swimming to residents.Minneapolis contracts with the YMCA to run North Commons Park,one of its two outdoor waterparks.St.Paul manages its own three pools, including the indoor Great River Water Park at Oxford Community Center and outdoor Como Regional Park Pool and Highland Park Aquatic Centec A few suburban communities,including Eagan and Shoreview,run municipal community centers,with pools,gyms and gathering spaces under one roof,and without the Y.Others such as Lakeville and Plymouth,have instead struck deals with private companies,notably Chanhassen-based Life Time Fitness,and negotiated daily pool passes and discounted memberships for residents. But the cities that have turned to the YMCA say they are also attracted to what it offers beyond a pool and a line of stationary bicycles.Programs range from child care to summer camps,senior art classes and outreach to low-income families. "The Y is need-based,so they accommodate all users,and you don't necessarily see that in a private commercial facility,"said Woodbury's Park and Recreation Director Bob Klatt.That city donated land for the YMCA to build in 1995 and later surrounded it with a city-owned indoor park and playground,a county library and senior housing."We have chosen not to build a traditional community center like you might see in Maplewood or Eagan.IYs a big cost to build them and then iYs a burden to run them." Maja Beckstrom can be reached at 651-228-5295. CITIES AND THE Y Metro suburbs that have invested over the past decade in a YMCA: 2007 Hastings contributed $250,000 to new$7.1 million building. Lino Lakes contributed $2.46 million to a new $8.4 million building. 2008 Elk River contributed $8 million and land to a new$12.9 million building. 2010 White Bear Lake contributed $2.72 million to a $6.7 million remodel. (White Bear Township contributed $225,000, and White Bear Lake School leases the pool). 2015 Forest Lake will contribute$9 million and land to a new$14.25 million building. The YMCA also manages West St. Paul's outdoor pool and North Commons Water Park in Minneapolis. The YMCA built branches in Shoreview in 2008 and Prior Lake in 2009 without city money. Andover built a community center in 2005, half of which the YMCA leases at terms that cover its share of construction debt. A planned $16.7 million Midway YMCA in St. Paul will be paid for with private money and federal tax credits.