YMCA gets five-year contract with option to extend
Morgan Hill – The formal agreement between the YMCA and the City of Morgan Hill concerning the management of the new Centennial Recreation Center, set to open in November, was approved by Morgan Hill City Council members during their May 3 meeting.
The possibility of the YMCA working with the city has been under discussion for a number of years, according to Steve Rymer, the city’s director of recreation and community services.
Under the agreement, the city and YMCA will sign a five-year operations contract with Morgan Hill holding an option for an additional five years. The city will hire the center’s manager, who will report to both parties, and have final say on all unresolved issues. The YMCA will staff the center and have a 35 percent stake in any financial gains or losses beyond the annual budget. The center is due to open in September.
Rymer said the YMCA will handle the “health and wellness” programs at the CRC, while the city will oversee the non-fee-based activities.
“(The YMCA) is primarily going to be involved in a membership model to running the CRC,” Rymer said this week. “The fitness studio, aerobic classes, strength and cardiovascular machines, they will administrate those areas.”
The YMCA, he said, will continue to be involved with the senior program at the Friendly Inn and the senior nutrition program.
A recent survey found strong support from residents for a YMCA-run facility, but members of the city’s parks and recreation commission, and council member Mark Grzan, said the survey was slanted and based on incomplete financial data. Critics of the survey say the city’s commitment to the YMCA is short-sighted and is tantamount to a giveaway of the first redevelopment project that could actually help Morgan Hill’s bottom line. This year, the Aquatics Center and Community and Cultural Center are estimated to lose about $1 million.
City finance director Jack Dilles has projected the center will cost the city about $205,000 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, and about $144,000 the following year. A city-run center is projected to lose $67,000 in its third year, but a center managed with the YMCA is predicted to make $62,000 in year three.
One of the next things the city will be focusing on as the CRC nears completion is the marketing campaign. Awareness is a big focus Rymer said.
“We’re putting together some charter membership packages, and we’re creating strategies to get the word out,” he said.
To begin with, the city will have information about the CRC available at city events, such as the Mushroom Mardi Gras, which begins May 27, and the July 4 celebrations.
Anyone interested in more information about the CRC can call either the city of Morgan Hill at 779-7271 or the YMCA at 779-0208.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
