NA Confidential’s intrepid correspondent, Rick Carmickle, attended last evening’s City Council work session, and provides these notes, taken as always to the best of his recollection. Thanks, Rick!
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City Council Work Session - June 2, 2005
Council President Jeff Gahan opened the meeting by stating that there would be no votes taken, no public comments allowed, this it was to be a fact-gathering meeting only.
Mr. Mike Ricke, Co-chairman for the New Albany YMCA, was the first speaker called.
--A brief history of the YMCA in New Albany. It was proposed in 2000 to the Overton administration.
--This fund raising project is the largest in southern Indiana as of today.
-- The Clark county YMCA at the beginning of the year had approx. 4,400 members, and today the number has grown to 7,000-plus members.
-- This figure doesn't include Program Members, special classes or events.
-- The New Albany YMCA will be a branch of YMCA Southern Indiana, operating with one board of directors and one Executive Director.
-- The New Albany YMCA will be approximately 55,000 square feet, compared to Clark County’s 58,000 sq. ft.; however, the pool area is not included in the NA total.
-- Life Span Resources is included in the YMCA. They will occupy the third floor, and provide help and aid to senior citizens, children, and families.
-- The New Albany YMCA will be a full-service YMCA, with a gym, running track, child watch services, weights, and locker rooms.
-- The New Albany YMCA could employee 75 to 100 people. The current employment of the Clark County YMCA is about 250.
-- As of now, over $5 million dollars has been pledged towards the goal of $8 million.
The next speaker was Mr. Greg Reger - President of Develop New Albany (DNA).
-- Develop New Albany supports this project.
-- The city is need of firm leadership and this meeting shows that leadership is developing.
Q. CM Gahan: What is the current timeline of the project?
A. Mr. Reger: Demolition of the Retailers Supply and Schmitt Furniture warehouse is scheduled to happen in June. Groundbreaking will be by the end of the year. Target completion date is by Harvest Homecoming, 2007.
Q. CM Mark Seabrook: How will the operating cost be funded?
A. Mr. Joe LaRocca (Southern Indiana YMCA Director): The YMCA will use membership fees and other fund raising campaigns to be self supporting.
The next speakers were Mr. James Garner, Mayor, City of New Albany, and Mr. Shane Gibson, the City of New Albany’s Attorney.
-- Mr. Gibson informed the council that each of them had been given a packet of information containing the latest figures, layout and history of the project.
-- The location chosen for the YMCA was designated a blighted area.
-- The city council authorized $400,000.00 for initial funding of project.
-- The Caesars Grant award.
-- Two addendums, one stating it was to be a downtown project, and
another stating the given name of the project.
-- The packet also contains schematic drawing, floor plans and artist rendition of the completed project.
-- Also included are several options for funding the project, one with EDIT money, one with the use of property taxes supporting the bond.
Mr. Gibson said that the project as presented has been scaled down to what the city can afford. The initial project was too much for the city to finance.
Q. CM Dan Coffey: The administration is asking us to leverage $400,000.00 of EDIT funds, backed by property taxes to see this project through the first few years? This city has other needs for that money, such as storm water runoff, jail expansion, etc.
A. Mr. Gibson: The overall plan is that $400,000.00 will be the limit in any year towards retiring this debt. That is to be a combination of EDIT funds and/or property tax.
Q. CM Coffey: What is the total cost of borrowing money for this project?
A. Mr. Gibson: The total cost of project is $20 million -- $15 million base loan, with a $5 million interest pay back.
Q. CM Seabrook: I have read in the newspaper that Phase Two is to be scaled back. Is that the plaza?
A. Mayor Garner: The plaza was never part of this funding. There is no real Phase Two as of this date.
A. Mr. Gibson: From the original conception, a parking garage was removed, the plaza removed, and condos (removed). None of these were in this funding request.
Note: A third person joined the speakers, but I did not catch his name! He interjected a few remarks, and they are as follows.
(Editor's note: Probably the architect, Mr. Wayne Estopinal.)
-- The natatorium and YMCA will have a combined total space of 85,000 sq. ft.
-- Every month of delay costs $125,000.00, to be added to the project due to inflation.
-- The tunnel or cut through the levee is part of the Greenway, and is not included in this project. There is a tower to overlook the floodwall to connect this project to the river.
-- There have been seven revisions thus far in the project to arrive at its current configuration.
-- The aquatic center will consist of three pools, a 30 ft. by 60 ft. warm water exercise pool, a family fun pool with slide, and 25-meter lap pool.
Q. CM Gahan: Who will operate the aquatic center?
A. Mayor Garner: The city and YMCA are conducting talks about having the YMCA operate the pools. City residents not a member of the Y will be allowed to pay daily fees to visit the center, but should an agreement not be reached, then operation of the pools could fall back to the Parks Department.
Q. CM Gahan: How does membership in the YMCA work?
A. Mr. LaRocca: The Y has various levels of membership:
-Youth $39.00 per month
-Family $54.00 per month
-Senior Citizens $35.00 per month
-Metro (not stated)
--The therapy pool is the biggest draw at the Clark County facility; many doctors are prescribing warm water aerobics for senior citizens.
--Membership will be honored at both Clark County and New Albany YMCAs. With a Metro membership, Downtown Louisville’s and Harrison County’s admissions are included as well.
Q. CM Gahan: Is there some type of help or support for families that may require it?
A. Mr. LaRocca: The YMCA does provide a sliding scale for those who are in need of it, and offer scholarships as well.
Note to the council from Mr. LaRocca: The average YMCA being developed these days is 45,000 sq. ft., and few are being built in the downtown areas any longer. The New Albany YMCA, with the aquatic center, will be in excess of 85,000 sq. ft., which exceeds Downtown Louisville and Clark County in size. Surveys tend to show that the membership of the New Albany YMCA could reach 9,000.
Q. CM Jack Messer: Where is the city (at) on money spent?
A. Mayor Garner: All property has been purchased. There is a parking lot recently purchased that will be finalized this week.
Q. CM Coffey: Is that the 1,000 sq. ft. lot we got for a bargain? $35,000.00?
(Please see side note at end of text)
A. Mr. John Rosenbarger: Yes!
A. Mayor Garner: Of the $2.5 million funded for acquisition and clean up, we are under budget at this time; however, we do not have a firm figure for the clean-up cost, only an estimate.
CM Coffey then asked that Mr. Ricke and Mr. LaRocca re-approach the lectern.
Q. CM Coffey: Mr. Ricke, have you spoken to Mr. LaRocca about our phone conversation yesterday?
A. Mr. Ricke: No.
CM Coffey directed this comment to Mr. LaRocca.
-- This city is in a crisis as far as budget and funding, so why doesn’t the YMCA take over the whole project, and eliminate the middleman, the city. With the city not involved, your project will speed up and become a reality much sooner. The money funded by Caesars is there -- ask them for all of it up front, use that $10 million, and only have to borrow $5 million, instead of putting this city into further debt.
Mayor Garner interjected that the city still owns the land and leases it to the YMCA for a one dollar a year.
Mr. Ricke and Mr. LaRocca stated that since the beginning, this project has been a three-way joint effort with the City of New Albany, YMCA and Caesars Foundation, and that they could not speak for the other two parties, but would take it under advisement.
Q. CM Gahan to Mayor Garner: When do you expect to bring this to the council for a vote?
A. Mayor Garner: First of July meeting.
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The following are Rick Carmickle’s opinions.
After the meeting, I approached CM Coffey to get a better understanding on the parking lot in question. He and I took a trip to the lot, which is located in the 100 block of Bank Street.
The lot in question must have been at one time parking for the old Reisz Furniture store. The lot was overgrown in weeds and had junk on it. I, too, wondered why the city saw a need for this lot, as it is over two blocks away from the current project site.
I do not know the owner, or know why the city chose to purchase such a lot at three times its appraised value, but this one appears to need further explanation. As I understand there were liens against the property. It may have been better to wait it out and buy the lot at a sheriff’s sale a few years down the road.
Submitted: Rick Carmickle.
An interesting site:
www.southernindianaymca.org
From the above site:
Membership Rates
Type of Membership/Joining Fee*/Monthly**
Youth (ages 6-17)/$35/$23
Adult/$65/$39
Adult-Metro/$111/$49
Sr. Citizen (60 years and above)/$65/$35
Sr. Citizen-Metro (60 years and above)/$90/$44
Family/$115/$54
Family-Metro/$165/$74
* Joining Fee is due along with first month's payment.
** The monthly membership is paid by electronic fund transfer, an automatic monthly withdrawal from your personal checking or savings account. This is not an annual membership, and continues until the member initiates a change.
Using the above figures, and let's say only 4,500 family memberships.
Total joining fees -- $517,500.00 (one time fee)
Total monthly fees -- $243,000.00 per month
Sounds to me like it will bring in more money for the city coffers!
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Friday media coverage of the work session:
Details given to Council for YMCA, Scribner Place, by Amany Ali, New Albany Tribune City Editor.
Planned YMCA in New Albany gets high praise; Downtown site seen as rare today, by Ben Zion Hershberg, Louisville Courier-Journal (short shelf life on C-J links).
Link: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050603/NEWS02/506030373/1025
I might differ a tiny bit with Rick on this one.
ReplyDeleteIf development spreads eastward down Main Street -- and I realize that some of you are going to elevate the "if" to the status of 11th Commandment -- then a municipal parking lot where the Reisz parking used to be will pay back that $35,000 very, very quickly.
In fact, assuming it is to be used for parking, it's one of the more progressive things I've heard lately. That parking lot alone might induce an investor to open a pub or eatery.
It's been suggested that Louisville made a mistake in its planning of 4th Street Live by not acquiring enough of the surrounding real estate at the onset of the project.
ReplyDeleteSince their infrastructure investment has elicited such a positive response, hindsight shows that the city would've been in a better position to facilitate increased private investment had they not landlocked themselves.