While the date hasn’t been set, Marysville City Council will hold a work session to discuss the city’s involvement in the future of the YMCA.
At the council’s work session this week, members discussed the parks and recreation portion of the city’s strategic plan. As part of that plan, there is a stated goal that the city, “strives to meet community demand for indoor and outdoor recreation facilities while achieving clear cost recovery goals that keeps facilities productive, adaptable, and financially sustainable.”
A 2016 parks and recreation survey indicated strong community support for indoor recreation facilities.
Officials said the strategic plan goal could mean the city builds a community recreation center or it could mean the community purchases the Union County Family YMCA.
“Before we do anything with recreational facilities, we need to have those conversations,” Marysville City manager Terry Emery said.
In March of 2019, YMCA officials asked the city to purchase the YMCA building and property for $3.8 million. Marysville would then lease it back to the YMCA organization for 20 years to continue operations.
The matter was discussed at a variety of opportunities in 2019.
Some of the city council members have expressed support for purchasing the YMCA while others have shown reluctance.
“We were going to bring this to the forefront last February or March,” Emery said, noting that the emergence of COVID-19 changed a lot of plans and “we weren’t quite sure where we would be financially.”
City officials stressed they need to consider a variety of facility options, not just a yes or no on purchasing the YMCA facility.
Emery said that would be part of the discussion as would the possibility of a city built recreation center. He said he does not see an opportunity for both to exist.
“I don’t have any examples of where there are YMCA’s and there are city recreational facilities,” Emery said.
Council President Mark Reams agreed that the topic would be best discussed in a work session dedicated to the topic. While the work sessions are open to the public, there is not typically an opportunity for public participation in those meetings.
Officials said the strategic plan has several key measurements for meeting the goal, though they are not funded.
Council member Aaron Carpenter, who campaigned on the idea that he would not support the purchase, said the pandemic likely also changed what residents want. He suggested conducting a new survey, “to see if something like a rec center is still a priority.”
Other city officials explained that the community survey was not long ago, had strong participation and was expensive. Officials said the survey results were incorporated into the city’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
Emery said council could look at partnering with other entities.
“It might be a good time to sit down with the commissioners again to see if there is any interest on their part to rekindle these discussions,” Emery said, noting the county’s two new commissioners as well as its financial position.
He added that Paris Township may also be interested in joining together.
City Recreation and Events Manager Amanda Morris asked council members not to forget about the city pool as it discusses recreation facilities. She reminded council that next year it will be 40 years since the pool was renovated. She said that as the pool ages beyond 40 years, “it is going to cost us more and more.”
She said at that point city officials need to decide if it makes more sense to maintain the current facility or to replace it and if they want to replace it, how, when and where would that happen.
When YMCA officials first approached the city in 2018, they said the purchase would give the city an indoor recreation facility, while the influx of cash would allow the YMCA to make some much needed repairs.
In a letter to the community, then-YMCA Board Chair Chuck Dyas said that while the organization is stable financially, debt incurred from renovations in the late 90s and early 2000s make it difficult for the YMCA to keep a strong financial position.
At an open house to explore the option, officials said the city would pay for the facility by issuing a bond to be paid off within a decade. Officials said about $1.5 million of the purchase price would go toward maintenance and various improvements needed at the facility.