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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 09-21 Maplewood and YMCA release more details regarding community center MAPLEWOOD REVIEW Maplewood and YMCA release more details regarding community center Submitted by admin on Wed, 09/21/2016 - 12:00am Maplewood is weighing the merits of a contract with the YMCA to take over management of the Maplewood Community Center, located at 2100 White Bear Ave. Big changes could be afoot for the Maplewood Community Center this autumn. The city is weighing the merits of a contract with the YMCA to take over management of the entire building, located at 2100 White Bear Ave. This change would be an expansion of the partnership that began last year in which the YMCA started managing the MCC’s aquatics operations. At a community meeting Sept. 13, Maplewood city officials and YMCA representatives answered questions and shared additional details with community center members regarding the possibility of the YMCA operating the MCC. When the Maplewood Community Center was built in 1994, it was part of a nationwide trend of cities looking to provide residents with a place to gather, swim, exercise, take classes or go to a live theatrical production. In addition to a six-lane lap pool and a leisure pool with a children’s water play area in the shallow end and a 120-foot water slide, the MCC offers users a banquet room, a child care facility, a two-court gymnasium for basketball, volleyball, floor hockey and other activities, space for hosting private events like birthday parties, racquetball and wallyball courts, a performing arts theater, as well as strength and cardio centers. City officials say that when the center opened 22 years ago, it was not intended to be a money-maker. However, in recent years the center’s deficits have been mounting, while at the same time the building is showing signs of age and in need of major repairs. “This is a wonderful asset,” said city council member Marylee Abrams, but she also explained, “When this community center was built, the community and the council that served our community did not do a really good job of planning ahead.” She went on to explain that before she and mayor Nora Slawik joined the city council two years ago there was no asset management plan or funds set aside for repairs, something the two have tried to remedy. “When you walk around you can see that we have not taken care of \[the MCC\] as we should,” Slawik said. Deferred maintenance A Sept. 6 release states that Maplewood has spent several months looking for ways to make the MCC financially stronger due to the facility’s projected deficit of about $450,000 this year, and the significant maintenance the facility now needs. “I’d be hard pressed to find any community center in the state of Minnesota that actually makes money,” said DuWayne Konewko, Maplewood’s parks and recreation director. “We’ve never made a profit.” He added that over the years it has become increasingly difficult to keep the MCC afloat because of the deferred maintenance. Abrams explained that the MCC is a large building and the new roof it needs will cost $1 million. Including the roof project, there are about $15 million worth of maintenance and repair projects the building will require over the next 10 years. “\[That money\] has got to come from somewhere. It either comes from raising ... taxes or it comes from trying to be more creative,” Abrams said. Abrams explained that the city can’t keep doing the same things with the community center because it is “bleeding money,” and in order to preserve this asset, the council has decided to “be bold” and try a creative solution. This creative solution entails leasing the building to the YMCA, and allowing it to take over operations of all aspects of the MCC except the performing-arts theater, which will continue to be operated by Ashland Theater Company. The potential partnership is still in the draft phase, but the draft states the lease would last 10 years with two five-year extensions. The partnership between Maplewood and the YMCA would involve sharing the burden of the facility’s costs, but this part of the agreement is still being negotiated. “It has us making some pretty big investments up front, but we were going to do them anyway,” explained city manager Melinda Coleman. “We have to do them anyway. We have no choice,” Abrams added. Abrams and Coleman said that they want to be sure to continue investing money toward improvements in the building in order to preserve it because the city will still own the building, even if the YMCA runs the operations. Coleman said that if Maplewood moves forward with the proposed partnership, in three or four years the city will start having money that can repurposed towards other city needs, namely park improvements. Konewko said the park improvements that could be benefited are outlined in the park master plan adopted January 2015. The partnership will be further discussed at a Maplewood City Council workshop planned for Sept. 26, and it will be an action item on the Oct. 17 special city council meeting. If the city council votes to pass this change, it would be effective Nov. 1. “Is it going to affect your workouts? Is it going to affect your membership? Is it going to affect the staff? Yes, it is,” Slawik said, but she added “I am a believer in the Y. I think they do a good job.” How the YMCA expects to succeed where the city did not Shane Hoefer, executive director of the White Bear Lake YMCA will become the director at the MCC if the agreement is finalized. He explained that because the YMCA is a large organization, it has some opportunities that a stand-alone community center doesn’t have. For example, the YMCA has a marketing department that creates advertisements that are aired on TV, distributed through the mail and printed in newspapers. This alone can encourage more people to join a particular facility. Also because of their multiple locations, the YMCA can leverage companies for better rates than the city can. Hoefer used the example that the YMCA overall uses a lot more toilet paper than Maplewood city facilities use, so the YMCA is able to convince the toilet paper company to sell the toilet paper for a lower bulk price. The YMCA also employs people who are professionals at what they do, and these professionals can train staff on the most effective methods to teach classes. The YMCA can form a network of expertise as opposed to just one individual doing the best he or she can to teach a class. Changes to expect Although some MCC members feel that the facility is operating at or above its peak capacity during popular hours, Hoefer said that overall there is room for more people. He adds that there are some times in the day, such as between noon and 4 p.m. on weekdays, when hardly anyone uses the space. “There are a lot of places that we can add more people, and you’ll never even know that they’re here,” Hoefer said. A current member pointed out that many members still work full time, and that she personally has had difficulties getting into classes because they are so popular at the time she is able to attend. Hoefer explained that when a class at one time becomes overcrowded like that, it is important to create more classes to draw people out of that one. He also said that if it is the time of day that makes a class so popular, staff can offer multiple classes back to back to meet the needs of the interested members. For example if the popular class is scheduled for 5:30, the staff may change the times so one group meets at 5:15 and the other at 6:15. He explained that it is the YMCA’s expertise to run facilities like this, and its staff members have several tactics to make it work and to help spread out the people in the space so it doesn’t feel overcrowded. “Historically, the Maplewood Community Center had had much higher membership than it does today,” Hoefer said. Although increased membership will help the center’s bottom line, Hoefer listed several ways he thinks members’ experiences will change for the better as well. He said the YMCA will be investing some money into the facility to help update exercise equipment, building access, locker room equipment, carpet and paint among other things. “I’m not going to touch the mural. It’s beautiful,” Hoefer hastily added in reference to the mural in the aquatics area. He also mentioned an investment in the childcare program over time. He expects the hours of operation to expand, though not to the full day. Hoefer explained that the YMCA will try to avoid shutting down parts of the facility while crews do repair work, and any projects that can be done overnight will be. “I am extremely confident that you are going to like what happens here,” Hoefer said. Membership rates A popular question among Maplewood Community Center members is if the membership rates will change if the YMCA assumes management of the facility. The answer, unfortunately, is complicated because there are numerous types of MCC memberships currently in place. Shane Hoefer is the executive director of the White Bear Lake YMCA, and if the partnership goes through, he will also be the director at the MCC. At a Sept. 12 community meeting, he explained to members what the draft agreement states about membership rates. For Maplewood residents who currently have a membership and wish to keep their membership only at the MCC, Hoefer said they will see relatively little change in price. He added that if there are adjustments, they will be incremental changes over time, but he expects those to be at a rate of 3 percent or lower. As an example of pricing, the YMCA website states a family membership rate for access to all 22 YMCAs in the Twin Cities is $122 per month. The MCC website states that right now resident members pay $73 per month for a family membership, but that is only good at that one facility. Hoefer said that Maplewood residents who wish to access all YMCAs in the Twin Cities will be able to upgrade their membership, and older adult residents who have membership to the community center through programs like Silver Sneakers or Silver and Fit, will automatically gain access to every YMCA in the Twin cities. Members who participate in reimbursement programs through their insurance will be able to continue receiving the benefits of those programs. People who attend the MCC by purchasing day passes or punch cards will be able to continue using that program for a minimum of one year, according to Hoefer. He added that this day-pass program is not used in YMCA facilities, so YMCA leaders want to see how it goes. City employees currently receive a discounted membership to the MCC as part of their compensation package, and Hoefer said the city wants to continue that program, but nothing has been determined for sure yet. For residents outside of Maplewood who have memberships good only at the MCC, they will probably also not see much change, according to Hoefer, although it is undetermined at this point if North St. Paul residents who currently receive reciprocity, will continue to be offered resident rates. According to parks and recreation director DuWayne Konewko, there used to be a joint powers agreement with North St. Paul where the two communities were partnered, and Maplewood was working with North St. Paul to run its community center. For this reason North St. Paul residents were offered the same membership rates in Maplewood, but that agreement ended on 2012. “We just never dropped it, and North St. Paul is the only city that actually has that reciprocity,” Konewko said. Regarding specialty classes, Hoefer said more research needs to be done on pricing as the YMCA typically charges more than the MCC has charged. However, he added that the YMCA does offer financial aid services as part of its membership options. Also, there will continue to be a guest pass program and that program will continue to be an incentive to retain a membership. Guest passes that members may already have will still be honored. —Aundrea Kinney MCC staff If the YMCA assumes management of the Maplewood Community Center this fall, many are wondering about the fate of the city employees who now work there. “There is no secret pool of other employees to bring in. We need for as many of the city employees as humanly possible to become employees of the YMCA and stay right here in the community center doing what they’ve always done so well,” said Shane Hoefer, the future director of the Maplewood Community Center if the agreement is finalized. He curently is the executive director of the White Bear Lake YMCA. Maplewood city manager Melinda Coleman explained that when the YMCA took over the aquatics program in 2015, 90 percent of the original employees stayed in the facility under the new management. According to Hoefer, some current employees will be paid more, and some will be paid a little less, but he added that YMCA leaders are willing to persuade, compensate and try their hardest to keep the best staff. This was an important issue to members who have grown extremely loyal to their instructors and personal trainers. “I’m concerned about the salary of the instructors who are excellent, and they say they might accommodate that, but I’m wondering if that’s really going to happen,” said Vicky Moore, a North St. Paul resident and MCC member. “Some of my favorite instructors have been here since the beginning, and they’re at the top of their pay scale. Their concern and ours is that if it will be reduced then they’ll have to leave, and they’ll take their classes with them,” she said. Some of her favorite unique classes include BARRE Boxing and Drums Alive/Golden Beats. She added that she stopped by the White Bear Lake YMCA to pick up one of its schedules and was disappointed to find that her favorite classes weren’t available. “We’d be really devastated if those particular classes were cut,” Moore added. Although Moore remained skeptical after the community meeting Sept. 13, her friend Neysa Hackman of Maplewood said that she felt somewhat reassured. “My thought is: if they don’t do something, we won’t have anything,” Hackman said, though she said she is also worried about losing her favorite instructors and classes. Hackman also is concerned that the friendly, community aspect of the MCC will be lost under the Y’s corporate leadership. She said that right now MCC feels like a family where she is accepted no matter what, which makes her not feel self-conscious while working out. Moore said she, too, shared this concern, especially after experiencing the contrast between what she described as the welcoming MCC and the White Bear Lake YMCA, which she found on her visit to be “cold,” untrusting and excessively security oriented. “It’s the camaraderie that we don’t want to see change,” Moore said. Melinda Coleman said that meetings were held with the MCC’s current employees Sept 6, and on Sept. 12 there was a job fair where current employees were given the first opportunity to reapply for their jobs. She added that she expects that by the end of September everyone will know who is able to stay. In response to a member concerned for her personal trainer, Hoefer said, “If she’s doing a great job, and she’s a certified personal trainer, I think the safe bet is that she’s going to stay.” He added that there are now five full-time employees, but there will be 14 full-time employees when the YMCA starts operating the MCC. Coleman explained that the city has also been hiring MCC staff to work in other parts of the city, and a package will be put together for employees who do not stay to make sure they are taken care of. —Aundrea Kinney