Childcare And Recreation Study Continues

Mahaska YMCA (file photo)

Mahaska YMCA (file photo)

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Since last fall when the Mahaska County YMCA came to the Oskaloosa City Council looking for assistance, the future of that institution has been in question for the community.

The Mahaska Community Development Group is comprised of Mahaska County citizens and business persons. Those members took on funding the YMCA with a one time money to help with the need, but with it came the requirement of making the entity viable in the future.

Preliminary results of the community input process were presented at the public meetings by Matt Coen of Walker/Coen/Lorentzen Architects, who is leading the study. Coen, a native of Oskaloosa, also presented possible scenarios for providing indoor recreation and early childhood services.

Some of that initial information came from the nearly 700 surveys that were filled out by area residents and at the public meetings held around the county.

The study includes three phases: 1) a recreation and early childhood needs assessment to gather public input; 2) a capital needs assessment of the existing YMCA facility; and 3) creation of a master plan using data from phases 1 & 2. The study will conclude in early July.

David Phelps, Interim Executive Director of the Mahaska County YMCA, explained the process for sustainability for the YMCA.

“We knew this was going to be a long process. The process isn’t going to be over for quite some time.”

Phelps added that, “This gives us good data to operate off of. But really, the next steps are going to be determining the course of plan, talking about the local option sales tax, and doing the master planning necessary not only to build it, but maintain it as well.”

Phelps said that being able to maintain the facility is a “key factor in all of this.”

“If you don’t have the money to operate it, you’re in the same position we’re in right now,” added Phelps.

The data collected, that is being compliled and analyzed, was an important step for the YMCA in understanding its future. The data will help to develop that master plan, which in turn helps give the decision makers options to look at. The master plan will help in determining how much the YMCA can afford to build and to operate.

A key component in this equation is the local option sales tax.

The current 1% tax has been utilized in the past for projects such as the library and jail, along with school buildings. The idea of utilizing that tax revenue for the YMCA is being discussed as an option for the City of Oskaloosa.

For Mahaska County and the other communities, they will also be discussing how to best utilize those tax dollars.

Even if the voters were to approve the YMCA as a use for the local option sales tax, it wouldn’t start benefiting the Y until the end of 2016.

Getting it on the ballot for the November election is a driving factor behind all of the discussion on the childcare and recreation options for Mahaska County.

“We’re working with the city officials to try and get it on the ballot in November, for consideration,” says Phelps.

The potential cost of $20 million dollars for the project will require fundraising beyond the capability of the local option sales tax.

If voters were to approve the local option sales tax for the YMCA, it would still only be a piece of the proverbial puzzle in keeping the facility funded and sustained. “That [local option sales tax] can’t do it all,” says Phelps.

Things at the YMCA remain challenging for the facility. “We’re still a challenged organization,” says Phelps.

Even with an unknown future for the YMCA, if it were to build new or renovate, those changes would happen at some point in the next few years. Phelps says that the current facility is being maintained, “because no matter what happens in this process, it still could be 2 or 3 years before we’re into a facility”.

Posted by on May 31 2015. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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