YMCA

5,623 Views | 28 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by 02skiag
jello123
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Members of the College Station City Council responded favorably to a presentation about a possible YMCA facility in the city at their regular workshop meeting on Thursday evening.
The council took no formal vote during the hour-long presentation and discussion, but the council's consensus was to direct city manager Bryan Woods and members of his office to explore the logistical parameters of forming a partnership with the YMCA. Jeff Andresen, CEO of the Greater Williamson County YMCA, said a YMCA likely would cost a city the size of College Station about $54 million to build, operate and maintain without any outside help. He added that a partnership with the regional YMCA could cut the city's costs down to just over $21.65 million about $20 million of which would go to the building of the facility itself.
Captn_Ag05
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AG
The presentation provided to the city council can be found here:

https://blog.cstx.gov/2019/06/27/live-blog-thursdays-city-council-meetings-june-27-2/
MisterShipWreck
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It would be nice to have a YMCA. But, if it costs the city that much, they should pass. This city loves to spend tax dollars.
Stupe
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S
Why would B/CS be part of Greater Williamson County instead of the Houston area?
Captn_Ag05
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AG
Houston has a long list of other priorities before BCS would be on their radar, so it would be many years before even having the discussions having now. Williamson County is ready to go now.

The last I saw was that the $21 million would be spread out over 20 years. If true, that seems pretty feasible.
BrandoC
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You have to be careful when you build a YMCA. People will come out the woodwork when you build something for the community like this. YMCA's tend to bring out problem people especially when you offer a free basketball gym and free fitness center. You have to make sure you have strict rules and have either a security guard or police officer onsite most of the time.
FamousAgg
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BrandoC said:

You have to be careful when you build a YMCA. People will come out the woodwork when you build something for the community like this. YMCA's tend to bring out problem people especially when you offer a free basketball gym and free fitness center. You have to make sure you have strict rules and have either a security guard or police officer onsite most of the time.



God forbid someone uses these facilities as intended and use the basketball court or fitness center. The nerve of these people coming out of the woodwork...

Do they keep security or police at the local parks that offer free space to play basketball?
Stupe
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S
I don't know what YMCA facilities that you've been around, but that wasn't remotely the case at any of them that I worked at.
BrandoC
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As a former employee of a Parks and Recreation in the state, if you do not handle a YMCA correctly things can go south. That's all I am saying .
02skiag
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My understanding is none of that is free. From the slides alone it's says "annual membership" or "daily pass".

Given that, what benefit does it give to have a taxpayer funded workout facility?
Stupe
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S
As a former employee of the YMCA system, I'm asking what specific YMCA facilities that you've been to that:

- Required a police presence or security guard on a regular basis.
- Are free
95_Aggie
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Don't let BrandoC reel you in
AFM
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How much more property tax I am going to have to pay to fund this?
Stupe
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S
I'm not. He'll either post specific examples or get ignored.
TXAGBQ76
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There was a plan with YMCA of Houston- then Harvey hit Houston. All of the money that was slated for the CS had to go rebuilding local facilities that were severely damaged.
AggiePhil
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Sure would be a shame.
02skiag
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You pretty much state that everything the Y offers is already offered. Maybe one day there would be a greater demand but I refuse to believe the city has come even close to exceeding the current supply. The city already has a huge offering of activities for all ages. There is every type of workout place you could need around town. From pricier to cheap. There are rec and competitive leagues for every major sport. We have city pools. Several neighborhoods have pools.

I'm open to the need for a Y, but no one has offered any evidence of that need yet. It seems like the council just likes the idea of a Y and they are trying make up a demand that doesn't exist. The KBTX article I read is full of nothing but fluff as well.
scs01
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02skiag said:

You pretty much state that everything the Y offers is already offered.

On an individual basis, that might be correct. What we appreciated about the Y was the breadth of family-friendly programming under one umbrella. It's a place we could take the whole family for recreation with something for everybody (swimming, exercise classes, ball courts, good child care, etc.), and I'm not aware that that exists in College Station otherwise. The commercial gyms are geared towards adults by my experience, and if any of them have a reasonable family membership option I'm not aware of it. Our family Y membership cost about as much as two adults at other local gyms and gave a whole lot more bang for the buck.

I don't have any quantitative idea of local supply and demand and economics, or much insight into the wisdom of using taxpayer money, etc.--would probably require more of a market study than I guess either of us have access to at this point. What I do know is that we missed the Y when we moved and would welcome a similar facility here.

1.618
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So if I lived in Bryan or Navasota, I'd be totally behind COCS bringing in a YMCA. What a great deal that would be!

The power point implies the choices are 1.) bring in YMCA or 2.) build and operate a similar facility yourself. I don't think that building and operating a similar facility is even remotely realistic. That would be nuts. So the COCS might actually do it, I suppose. Other people's money....grrrrr.
Brian Alg
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If we want a YMCA, there is a better way to do this. It is not obvious to me that College Station taxpayers should be forced to foot the bill:

a) It is unclear at this point that there will be sufficient community interest in the project to warrant using taxpayer dollars to fund it.

b) The YMCA will have disproportionate benefits to some stakeholders, (e.g., developers/business located near the YMCA and members of the community who will use the YMCA) and no advantage or actual harm to others (e.g., individuals that have no interest in using the YMCA, local health clubs/facilities, established local non-profit youth programs). It is generally bad policy and pretty unfair to use government funding to subsidize the competition of established local businesses and other organizations.

c) The YMCA will presumably be used by many non-CS folks who will not be taxed to subsidize the facility.

Assuming wide community benefits, I am inclined to think that there is a better way to fund this. If there is sufficient community interest in a YMCA, I would think the YMCA, United Way, or some other civic organization could coordinate financial support from interested stakeholders. The nearby developers and businesses, the folks that want to be members, and charitable individuals and civic groups that think this will be good for the community at large will be able to get this done if they think it is worthwhile.
Brian Alg

Brazos Coalition for Responsible Government
TAMU1990
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AG
When I lived in The Woodlands the Y was an upscale one - definitely not free.
Oogway
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MisterShipWreck said:

It would be nice to have a YMCA. But, if it costs the city that much, they should pass. This city loves to issue certificates of obligation, raise your property values, and then spend the tax dollars they have plus the additional tax dollars.
FIFY

I agree with Brian Alg:
Quote:

The YMCA will have disproportionate benefits to some stakeholders, (e.g., developers/business located near the YMCA and members of the community who will use the YMCA) and no advantage or actual harm to others (e.g., individuals that have no interest in using the YMCA, local health clubs/facilities, established local non-profit youth programs). It is generally bad policy and pretty unfair to use government funding to subsidize the competition of established local businesses and other organizations.

The Midtown City Center development has their promotional materials mentioning the Y. More than once. Considering that they will be due south of the proposed facility, will they be fronting some of the development costs? Did they pay a new development fee for the roads and sidewalks that were recently put in?

I also agree with this point:
Quote:

Assuming wide community benefits, I am inclined to think that there is a better way to fund this. If there is sufficient community interest in a YMCA, I would think the YMCA, United Way, or some other civic organization could coordinate financial support from interested stakeholders. The nearby developers and businesses, the folks that want to be members, and charitable individuals and civic groups that think this will be good for the community at large will be able to get this done if they think it is worthwhile.


A YMCA is an asset, no doubt. We belonged to two different Ys in other states and they had great programming and we loved being members and met a lot of people from our community. However, funding this facility would need more buy-in from the county or surrounding counties, and some of the folks that Brian Alg mentioned before I would be on board. If the council votes to issue debt for this without holding a bond election, I will be taking names prior to the next election. The debt has got to stop.
Brian Alg
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Since this is a YMCA thread again, I am going to go ahead and ask:

Some people think having a YMCA in town is bad (maybe just one person). Most seem to think YMCAs are good. Does anybody think the city ought to be funding this? Are there good reasons not to use voluntary contributions from folks who will benefit and folks who think this will be an effective way to do good with their money?
Brian Alg

Brazos Coalition for Responsible Government
02skiag
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My answer is still solidly against taxpayer money being used for this. Someone else made a solid point that it would compete against other taxpaying businesses. A YMCA is not a solution to any existing problem. It's a solution the council is trying to invent a need for.
Brian Alg
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CS Mayor Mooney gave a YMCA update and is soliciting input from citizens regarding the YMCA. His email is in the article linked below.

https://www.kbtx.com/content/news/College-Station-Mayor-provides-update-on-YMCA-512523102.html
Brian Alg

Brazos Coalition for Responsible Government
Rapier108
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Having not followed this story that much, I have to ask.

Why is the CS City Council so obsessed with having a YMCA?
UmustBKidding
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Because the mayor is obsessed with it, even when he on council. There was even talk early on how that they should turn over all the aquatic facilities from parks to the Y.
Not sure what the huge attraction is. Y is not cheap and lots of commercial options available. Cs seems to dislike boys club, know they owned land here at one point but did not build, and personally think it would address more needs.
dubi
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BrandoC said:

You have to make sure you have strict rules and have either a security guard or police officer onsite ALL most of the time.

FIFY
Oogway
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UmustBKidding said:

snip
Not sure what the huge attraction is.
snip
Money.

In the KBTX interview, Mooney is states that they would like to see about 4000 family units and that is the tipping point for when the Y takes on minor maintenance so that the CoCS would then no longer have to provide that service. From what I gather thus far, the City (meaning you the taxpayer) builds the Y, CoCS contracts the staff and programming services to them and then if enough families become members, the Y becomes (somewhat) self-sustaining. He also mentioned that the Lege had made it more difficult for them to bring in revenue for facilities and thus there was a need for something like this. Makes me wonder if they can't raise taxes if they will be issuing a CO for this...


What isn't stated are a few questions I would have such as:

What happens if there aren't enough members?

What happens if the cheapest construction bid results in a product that needs more than minor maintenance? Who pays for the big fix that we all know is coming?

What happens to the city staff that are currently working at the other facilities in town such as the Lincoln Center, the Senior Center (formerly "the building which shall not be named"), the Teen center (formerly the Senior Center) and the natatorium and pools? Do they go and work for the Y? Are they terminated, reassigned?

What happens to those facilities? Do they suffer the same benign neglect that Bryan gave to some its baseball fields until they had to be shut down? (to be fair, I don't know if Bryan has solved that problem and they are now open).

I have more, but that is a start. I will probably email the mayor in the future and try and learn more about it.
02skiag
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AG
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