SEQUIM — The Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center board decided on a split vote to contribute to a study of the feasibility of a partnership with Olympic Peninsula YMCA, which would manage the exercise facility.
The board of the facility at 610 N. Fifth Ave., known as SARC, voted 3-2 today to provide $5,000 for the YMCA study.
Chairman Frank Pickering said that he, vice-chairman Sherry Nagel and board member Melinda Griffith voted in favor of supporting the study while board members Jan Richardson and Gil Goodman were opposed.
The market study would ask questions of current SARC pass-holders and members of the broader community, said Kyle Cronk, the chief executive officer of Olympic Peninsula YMCA.
“If the YMCA and SARC collaborated, what is the likelihood that they would join or continue to be a member of the organization and what is the likelihood that they would consider donating to a facility” run by the YMCA, Cronk said.
Results of the market survey are expected by the end of October, Cronk said.
If the response is favorable, then the YMCA will present a proposal to the SARC board, possibly in mid-to-late November, he added.
Both Pickering and Cronk said that in such a partnership, the SARC board would remain intact and SARC would remain a junior taxing district.
“This is not about taking over SARC,” Cronk said. “This is not about changing ownership. This is for the greater Sequim community.”
The SARC board has said that the facility, which includes the city’s only public pool, will close by September 2016 because of lack of funds, even with a cutback in hours that will begin Oct. 5.
SARC was formed as Clallam County Parks and Recreation District 1, a junior taxing district in 1988. It has not collected taxes since 2003 and has operated on reserves.
Voter rejected a proposed levy in February. In August, they rejected the proposed formation of a metropolitan park district to solely fund SARC.
The feasibility study would be led by Strategic Research Associates of Spokane at cost of about $36,000, said Cronk and Pickering.
YMCA will provide $12,000 from private donors, one of which was for $10,000, and is pursuing other donations, Cronk said.
The Sequim City Council will consider a $5,000 contribution to the study at its meeting at 5 p.m. Monday at the Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St.
Other agencies are considering support, Pickering and Cronk said.
He characterized the proposal as “a multi-organization collaboration.
“There are several entities interested in making sure that SARC is a viable community asset in the greater Sequim community,” he said.
Pickering said the SARC board has not yet decided whether to work with YMCA, noting that will be determined following information gleaned from the study.
“The voters have turned us down, so we have to find something” else to keep the facility open, Pickering has said.
Other possibilities include working with the city of Sequim and Clallam County and/or setting up a nonprofit organization to accept donations on behalf of the facility, he has said.
