YMCA seeks partnership with Nixa

Following the May resignation of its Parks and Recreation director, the city of Nixa is fighting the department’s mounting losses by entertaining a proposal from the Ozarks Regional YMCA to manage the Nixa Community Center and recreational programs.

The city held two public hearings in early July to detail the YMCA proposal that is projected to save the city roughly $1.5 million in the first five years. If approved, city officials say the move would stop the bleeding of parks revenues, which dropped by nearly half between 2009 and 2011.

Revenue crunch
According to Nixa Communications Director Jill Finney, parks department operations were subsidized in 2011 by the city’s general fund to the tune of $800,000 – roughly two-thirds of the department’s operating expenses.

Finney said parks revenue declined sharply with the losses of the Mercy Fitness Center on the second floor of the community center in 2010 and a before- and after-school care program called SafeBase. Parks’ revenue in 2009 was about $840,000 compared to just more than $430,000 in 2011.

In May, the city issued a request for proposal to fill the second floor of its community center – its second RFP since Mercy left – just before Parks Director Kelly Hasner resigned for undisclosed reasons. Nixa City Administrator Brian Bingle said the city of Ozark, Fitness 19 and the Ozarks Regional YMCA each responded to the RFP, but the proposal by the nonprofit is council’s leading candidate.

Bingle said the Fitness 19 plan would generate $90,000 per year, but it would not utilize the full space being shopped in the RFP. He described Ozark’s idea as working cooperatively in the same way that Springfield and Greene County do through their joint parks system.

“But it did not include the fact that (Springfield and Greene County) have a sales tax associated with parks and recreation revenues, and we don’t,” Bingle said.

Meanwhile, Bingle said roughly 40 applications have come in for the open parks director position. In YMCA’s plan, the nonprofit would handle the responsibilities of a parks director, city officials said.

Nixa Mayor Sam Clifton said City Council has postponed hiring a director in favor of considering the partnership.

“If we don’t go with the Y, we need to hire a parks director to run our facility. We’re kind of in a limbo stage right now. We need to give direction to the employees and the public with what we’re going to do,” Clifton said.

Finney said a bill that proposes the city enter into negotiation with the YMCA could be on the council agenda as soon as July 16. Council is expected to make a decision on the partnership within three months.

The courtship
Ozarks Regional YMCA President and CEO Brad Toft told a crowd of roughly 100 at a July 9 public hearing that YMCA staff would manage day-to-day operation of the parks department’s pool, community center and programs such as swimming lessons and child care.

“We’re not in this to make money,” Toft told council, pointing to the $1.3 million the Ozarks Regional YMCA budgeted last year to provide access for municipalities like Nixa that can’t cover their program expenses. “This is not about the Y taking over. We’re here to serve the individual needs of the community.”

Under the proposal, the city would pay the YMCA $222,000 during the first year, $133,000 during the second year and $79,000 during the third year, according to Nixa Finance Director Donna Swatzell. The city would retain ownership of the community center and the pool as well as cover insurance and maintenance costs of the facilities. Nixa city staff also would continue to oversee free parks services such as city-owned green spaces and playgrounds.

After the third year, Nixa would cease payments to YMCA and annual parks expenses would hold steady at an estimated $70,000, Swatzell said. Nixa’s 2011 parks expenses were $1.2 million. The YMCA would pull operational revenues from membership dues and program fees.

Toft said the YMCA has a history both locally and nationally of working with communities to provide services and programs to residents.

He said if the Nixa agreement is approved, the organization would establish a board of managers comprising up to 15 community representatives who could direct program offerings unique to Nixa.

“The reason these relationships are successful is the Y can bring some strong operating expertise and eliminate much of the tax subsidies communities have,” Toft said.

Clifton said he expects council to vote to enter into negotiations with the YMCA when the bill comes before the governing body, but that doesn’t mean a deal is done. He said council still plans to consider public opinion, which is not unanimous. Clifton said residents are largely worried about continued access to programs they’ve paid for.

“Some of the concerns that people have talked about are concerns we’re going to address during the negotiations,” Clifton said, adding that he often feels a need to defend the YMCA to those worried about the transfer, even though he hasn’t yet made up his own mind. “I’ve seen a lot of support for the Y. There is some fear that people think we’re going to lose some pride if we go that route, but I don’t really see it that way.”

Partnerships in place
Toft said a recent example of the YMCA’s efforts to work with local communities could be seen in Bolivar.

“(The YMCA) building did not have a swimming pool, and the community felt like it needed that, so it passed a parks tax to build a city-owned pool onto our building,” he said of the $5.5 million Bolivar Aquatics Center that opened last month. “We have an agreement with the city to operate that, and it is a terrific example of a public-private partnership to do what is best for the community in the most efficient way possible.”

YMCA also has partnerships in place with Hollister, Lebanon and Monett.

City Administrator Dennis Pyle said Monett is saving roughly $300,000 per year by outsourcing its recreational programs to the YMCA, a move it made in 2003 following a failed effort to secure public funds to build a community center.

He said the YMCA manages the city’s pool for $35,000, operates the city’s recreational programs and leases space from the city for its fitness center. However, Pyle said the Y would be vacating that space as construction is under way for an $11.3 million facility, which is expected to open by the end of the year. The operational partnership will remain in place, he said.

“I believe both parties have been pleased with the agreement,” Pyle said, adding that he thinks the Y’s 3,400 individual members are significant for a town with a population of 8,900. “That shows how well it has been accepted and how popular their programs are.”

While the YMCA has established partnerships in the area, its relationship with the Springfield-Greene County Park Board has been strained of late. In May 2011, Toft went public with his opposition to the construction of the Dan Kinney Family Center, calling the $5.2 million project a waste of taxpayer money. The center was funded by revenue bonds supported by a quarter-cent sales tax passed by voters in 2006 for $50 million in Park Board projects. Toft said the southeast center, which is expected to be complete in December, would unnecessarily compete with the YMCA’s Republic Road location.  

The Ozarks Regional YMCA has operated in the Springfield area since 1888, and currently has a presence in eight communities with 13,000 memberships representing roughly 25,000 people. According to the YMCA, 257 households in the Nixa ZIP code hold memberships.