SARC Board meeting
What: Discussion of YMCA lease
When: 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 9
Where: Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St.
A lease agreement between the Olympic Peninsula YMCA and Clallam County Park and Recreation District 1, better known as the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center, is complete.
After working together for nearly five months to create a plan aimed at reopening SARC — a multi-use facility that closed last October — the entities have outlined a 15-year lease agreement with two 10-year extensions.
According to the contract, the Olympic Peninsula YMCA will be the operator of the anticipated Sequim Y, and the Clallam County Park and Recreation District 1 will serve as the landlord.
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 draft lease.
“The SARC board and us see the same kind of public impact, vision and keeping what’s best for the community as the goal,” Len Borchers, Olympic Peninsula YMNCA chief operating officer, said. “A few years ago we changed our name from Clallam County to Olympic Peninsula YMCA to represent that fact that we were in Jefferson County.”
“We actually leaped frogged around Sequim because SARC was here, but when the opportunity did present itself it just seemed to fit as we broaden our reach and impact in these communities,” Borchers said.
Completing the lease agreement is one milestone in the ongoing effort to reopen the community recreation and swimming pool, but whether the lease is put into action pends the Clallam County Board of Commissioners’ approval for a $731,705 grant from the county’s Opportunity Fund. The county monies would fund equipment upgrades and replacement 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.
“We can’t do anything until we get a vote from the Board of County Commissioners on the grant,” Frank Pickering, SARC Board of Commissioners chairman, said.
In addition to the air handler, between $60,000-$100,000 in repairs and tenant improvements have been identified, such as signage, a pool pump and roof leak.
YMCA officials are responsible for the repairs and improvements, according draft lease agreement.
Like other YMCAs
“Basically, we plan to operate it the same way as the facilities in Port Angeles and Port Townsend,” Gary Huff, Olympic Peninsula YMCA board member and fundraising chairman, said.
The Sequim Y will have similar hours of operation from 5 a.m.-10 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays, Huff said.
Monthly membership fees will range between $48-$50 per individual and $70-$75 for couples. Per YMCA policy, “No one would be turned away because of an inability to pay program fees or a membership,” Huff said. Instead, the YMCA would fundraise to ensure everyone can become a member, which gives access to other YMCAs, too.
Under the draft lease agreement, the YMCA assumes the outstanding membership fees worth about $103,000. For these former SARC pass holders that paid ahead there are three options: Join the YMCA and receive full amount of credit applied on a monthly basis, not join and request 50 percent upfront or the full amount over 18 months or lastly, donate the value back to the YMCA as a charitable contribution.
Also mirroring other Olympic Peninsula YMCA facilities, 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 YMCA’s day-to-day operations, Sherry Nagel, SARC Board of Commissioners vice chairman, said.
Discussions, decisions
Both the SARC and the YMCA boards must approve the lease agreement.
The SARC commissioners plan discuss the lease agreement at their meeting today, March 9, where Pickering anticipates the board will take action on the lease.
First, however, the board expects to hear from many of the “community leaders,” Pickering said, including Sequim Mayor Dennis Smith; Eric Lewis, Olympic Medical Center chief executive officer; Mark Ozias, Clallam County commissioner; Jerry Allen, 7 Cedars Resort and Casino chief executive officer, and Steve Burke, William Shore Pool executive director.
The YMCA board plans to review the lease agreement for discussion and decision on March 23.
The Clallam County Finance Committee is slated to discuss the SARC grant request Thursday, March 24. If the grant request is supported by the committee, it will then undergo a public hearing process before the Board of County Commissioners make their final decision, Borchers said.
“Our task day one is just like it is in Port Angles and that is satisfy our members on a daily basis and we intend to do that,” Borchers said. “If we do that we will be successful, if we don’t we won’t — It’s pretty straight forward.”
Assuming all needed steps are met, YMCA officials hope to open September 2016 as the “Sequim Y.”
YMCA officials haven’t begun the hiring process yet, but leading to the opening date, Borchers anticipates hiring between 30 and 50 employees.
Pickering plans to make the lease agreement available for viewing at the Sequim Library.
For more information about future classes or to be placed on a mailing list to receive status updates, call Borchers at 452-9244 ext. 305 or email to elenb@olympicpeninsulaymca.org.
