The ordinance will be voted on at the next City Council meeting at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in Council Chambers, lower level City Building.
Two representatives, Tyler Roberts from the YMCA and Adriane Scherrer from SplashDown Middletown Water Park, made presentations before council during a Jan. 6 special meeting.
Middletown’s two public swimming pools, Sunset and Douglass, closed many years ago due to escalating operating costs, and some people have expressed a need for an aquatic center in the city.
Lolli said the city is committed to funding construction of the aquatics park in the amount of $3.2 million, with all future operation and maintenance being the financial responsibility of the YMCA. The money will come out of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund, according to city documents.
Middletown has about $1 million remaining in ARPA funds, according to Lolli. He said the city earmarked $3 million in ARPA funds for downtown improvements, and the city is “not even close” to spending that much money.
The city could divert $3.6 million out of the general fund, giving the city as much as $7.5 million to invest in the aquatic center project, according to Lolli.
City Council appears divided on the issue.
Mayor Elizabeth Slamka wanted the city to spend $25,000 on a feasibility study before a contract with the YMCA is finalized. She asked for a vote regarding the study and it failed 3-1 with her casting the only “yes” vote. Council member Jennifer Carter abstained, saying she’s on the YMCA board.
Council members Zack Ferrell, Paul Horn and Steve West II all expressed their support for the project to be awarded to the YMCA.
West said he was impressed by the YMCA’s “tangible proposal” last week and said the city doesn’t need to be in the aquatic center business.
“The last thing we need is to own and operate one of these,” West II said. “It’s money every year.”
Ferrell said building an aquatic center in the city “solves a need and a want” for residents.
Roberts, Great Miami Valley YMCA district executive director, said according to estimates from Patterson Pools, an aquatic center on the YMCA property would cost between $2.7 million and $3 million. That cost would be about $1 million higher if the YMCA didn’t already have ample on-site parking and pumps to run its indoor pool, he said.
Once the city pays to construct the water park, the YMCA would assume all other expenses, Roberts said. He estimated those operating costs at $250,00-$300,000 annually.
The water park would include a double flume fiberglass water slide and other water features, he said.
Roberts said if the YMCA received council’s approval, construction could begin in February or March with a completion date sometime in 2025.
Scherrer said it was “with a heavy heart” she learned of the first reading of legislation introduced Tuesday night concerning the placement of “a little more than an out-of-date pool” at the Atrium YMCA.
“This in spite of the work the board of directors of SplashDown Middletown has reflected in efforts to reassure our city leadership of the importance of public/private partnerships to our community,” she wrote in an email to the Journal-News.
She called allocating $3.2 million to “a faith-based organization is most certainly not what voters thought ‘Quality of Life’ tax dollars would purchase. Once again the city government disrespects the citizens that work daily to provide them with paychecks, insurance benefits, etc.”
IN OTHER NEWS:
Clayton Castle was approved as the city’s fourth communications manager in the last seven years. He will fill the vacancy created by the recent termination of Byron McCauley.
Castle will be paid $66,092 annually, according to city documents. Prior to his appointment in Middletown, Castle worked as a public relations specialist at Northern Kentucky University.
He ran unsuccessfully for a City Council seat in November 2023 and was not selected to fulfill Rodney Muterspaw’s unexpired term when he resigned in November.
HOW TO EXPRESS YOUR OPINIONS
If you want City Council members and city staff to know how you feel about an aquatic center, send an email to Clerk of Council Amy Schenck at amys@cityofmiddletown.org.
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