The Sequim YMCA, once known as the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center, is another step closer to becoming a reality.

The Clallam County Parks and Recreation District 1 (SARC) Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 in support of a lease agreement with the Olympic Peninsula YMCA during a public meeting March 9.

SARC Commissioner Jan Richardson was alone in his opposition to the lease.

“The recitals (introduction of lease) are very pompous,” he said. “I would dearly love to see them taken out because they have no standing in the contract.”

Richardson has expressed concern throughout the development of the SARC and YMCA partnership. He’s continued to question the economic viability of the YMCA operating SARC and its plan to partly rely on community funding, the use of county and city funds and the lease amount.

However, prior to the board’s vote, more than an hour of the meeting was devoted to public comment and all were supportive of a Sequim Y.

More than 80 community members, including Sequim High School girls swim team members, packed into the meeting space at the Sequim Civic Center to hear from primary supporters of the pending partnership and/or to provide comment themselves.

“The mission of the Y and the mission of the Clallam County Parks and Recreation District 1 are very, very similar, if not the same,” Frank Pickering, SARC board chairman, said. “We are to provide for the recreation and aquatic needs of the district’s residents — that is our charter.”

The approved agreement outlines the relationship between the YMCA as operator of the anticipated Sequim Y, and the parks and recreation district as landlord. The lease spans 15 years with two 10-year extensions.

The YMCA will “fulfill the mission of the Clallam County Parks and Recreation District 1 and in consideration the Y will pay the SARC board $20,000 a year to cover district expenses,” according to the lease. The lease amount will allow the Clallam County Parks and Recreation District 1 to continue to “exist as a viable municipal entity and pay those expenses, which it has to pay,” Craig Miller, attorney for the Clallam County Parks and Recreation District 1, said.

The SARC Board of Commissioners opted to close SARC last October because of lack of funds and therefore the board doesn’t have funds to uphold many of the “typical” financial responsibilities of a landlord, Miller explained.

“Much of the negotiations (of the lease) also have concentrated on the fact that SARC doesn’t currently have the ability to bear many of those risks, particularly those that are financial,” he said.

Among the unusual financial allocations to the Olympic Peninsula YMCA is the insurance.

YMCA officials plan to insure the building at its full replacement value and provide liability insurance with the same limits that SARC had of $10 million, Miller said.

The effective date of the lease agreement is contingent on YMCA officials’ confirmation that they can meet the insurance needs, Miller said.

YMCA approval needed

The Olympic Peninsula YMCA 20-member board is up next to discuss and take action of the lease agreement on Wednesday, March 23.

“It’s been a good process (creating the lease agreement),” Len Borchers, Olympic Peninsula YMCA acting director, said. “We’ve taken the slow route, but we hope to get there safely in the end and a few months more and I think we’re going to be able to deliver something to the community.”

Like their other facilities in Port Angeles and Port Townsend, YMCA officials plan to recruit a local Sequim Y advisory board to help with policies, planning, fundraising and advocacy. The board will consist of at least five members, including one ex-officio SARC board member appointee.

The SARC board will remain intact as the Clallam County Parks and Recreation District 1 board, but will be hands off from the Sequim Y’s day-to-day operations.

The Olympic Peninsula YMCA plans to bring its “core values” to the Sequim Y, Borchers said.

“What we’re going to bring, I hope is an atmosphere, a place, that’s open and welcome, very friendly and that our core values of honesty, respect, responsibility and caring are on display everyday in everything we do — so remember: ‘Better Together.’”

Pending grant

Regardless if both entities agree on the lease, whether the Sequim Y will open still depends on a request from the SARC board for a $731,705 grant from the county’s Opportunity Fund. The county monies would fund equipment upgrades and replacements necessary for reopening the facility, including a new air handler.

Required by the state Department of Health, the air handler maintains the air quality, humidity and chemicals at a safe balance within the swimming pool area.

“Any new venture, to a certain extent, is a leap of faith, but this is a leap of faith that I’m excited about,” Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias told those attending the March 9 meeting.

Because the county’s portion of the deal has to with a grant from the Opportunity Fund, which is tied to jobs and economic development, Ozias said he wanted to highlight the number of first jobs that would be created through the Sequim Y.

“I wanted to highlight the 50, 60 or 70 teens that will find a place to have their first job, to learn what it means to develop a work ethic, be responsible and to stick to a schedule,” he said. “There are extremely limited opportunities for young people anyplace around the county these days, but particularly in an area like ours to develop that experience and I don’t think that we can emphasis that aspect of job creation enough. I would argue these are going to be dollars that are well spent,” he said.

The county’s Finance Committee is expected to discuss the SARC grant request Thursday, March 24. The request will then undergo a public hearing process through the Board of County Commissioners.

Ozias anticipates the grant making it onto the commissioners’ March 29 agenda.

“The more unified your voice can be, the stronger signal that sends,” Ozias told the SARC board and audience, including members of the Y board. “Having the voices of other community partners like the City of Sequim and Olympic Medical Center are also crucial.”

Both Eric Lewis, OMC chief executive officer, and Dennis Smith, Sequim mayor, provided public comment in support of the lease agreement.

Pickering urged all those in support of the Sequim Y to engage in the public process and express their support to the county commissioners.

Assuming all needed steps are met, YMCA officials hope to open in September as the Sequim YMCA.

A copy of the lease agreement approved by the Clallam County Parks and Recreation District 1 is available to the public at the Sequim Civic Center.

Reach Alana Linderoth at alinderoth@sequimgazette.com.