Reading the comments to my previous post one thing is obvious. The Astoria Aquatic Center needs a business plan.
Comments regarding hours of operation, customer service and, structure of user fees all point to a crying need for a business plan that would address specific areas of operation at AAC that prevents it from being successful.
This also requires a major change in thinking about the city parks department as a whole. Should the ACC remain under the department? Should it be a stand-alone operation?
Should all user fees for all parks department services be raised to help off-set the drain on city resources that results from the operation of the aquatic center? That would include use of meeting spaces, elimination of free community services with fees attached to events like the annual Easter Egg Hunt and the Monster Bash. Groups that currently use city ball fields at low or no cost would have to raise additional funds to pay for that use. Cemetery service fees would have to increase. Cooperative agreements between the city and other entities like the schools and the Coast Guard for use of city park facilities would need to be re-examined to recover actual costs of operation of the department and all it's facilities including the AAC.
Perhaps we do none of these things. Perhaps we put the Aquatic center on the market seeking a private owner/operator willing to take the risks involved with it's operation. The doors close until we find someone who can run it at a profit. If that were to happen it would represent a first and I fear the wait to re-open the doors would be very, very long.
The city has two choices as I see it:
ReplyDelete1. follow the footsteps of our federal government and continue to fund operations because the city feels Astorians "deserve" to have a pool.
2. let common sense and fiscal responsibility guide the decision.
Just to be clear, having a pool is not a right. You are not entitled to a pool. I don't care how many out of town folk might use it (surely not enough, that's why it costs the city so much) if the city has to choose between worthwhile projects like replacing a bridge or paving roads then either make the pool pencil out or close it.
What would happen if the reported $450,000 subsidy by the city was instead refunded on your Astoria property taxes?
disclaimer: my family uses the pool and my kids take swimming lessons there. it's nice for my family, but we're the minority that actually use it.
I am new here so I don't know the history. When we fist got here we bought a 3 month pass and found we never used the pool unless it was for swim lessons which we paid for on top of the pass fee. There is no reason to buy a pass. It dosen't get you a break on lesson fees and the times to take the family to swim are few and far between.Needless to say when our pass expired we did not renew. Why is the pool closed on Sunday that is the perfect day to have the pool for open swim all day. We were shocked that it was closed. We would have used the pool more but the times and fee scale are not family friendly.
ReplyDeleteSome suggestions open Sunday or more open swim times and I would pay alittle more for a pass if it got me a break on lessons(we have 3 taking lessons.
Kathy
Tom, the pool has business plan and your former boss at KAST, Jim Servino, along with Skip Hauke, put it together around the time the radio station was encouraging people to vote for this thing. Second, why should people pay more for the usual small town park services so Astoria can have a monster pool? It should be pointed out that the pool is used a lot by a few people, many of whom live in communities that refused to contribute to the pool in the first place. Third, the potential cost to basic services mentioned earlier is not a potential cost. The pool has already cost the city at least a cop, a couple firefighters and a lot of basic service equipment to the tune of several million dollars in decreased basic services. Finally, it's best that the pool be a lesson for the future and the City either get Seaside Recreation District to operate it or a private business. In the end, this thing will cost taxpayers who don't use the pool a lot, but if the City sheds it there will at least be an end.
ReplyDeleteI for one am sick and tired of the way the Parks and Rec in Astoria is run for Adults and not kids....Look in the basement of city hall which is full of softball trophies....Let the adults pay more for use of fields,gyms etc......I use the pool,my grand-children take swimming lessons($35.for 2 lessons a week for 8 weeks) THATS $2.20 per lesson....DON"T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT MY GRANDCHILDRENS LIFE AND WELL BEING LIVING BY THE RIVER AND OCEAN...ARE WORTH A LOT MORE THAN THAT.......
ReplyDeleteUmm. Sounds like the pool needs more than a business plan.
ReplyDeleteThe arguments supporting the pool from the Astoria City meeting were off base. None of the individuals had any plans, donations or other ideas on how to pay for the shortfall from a city who is broke. The bleeding heart pleadings cannot and will not fill the coffers. The pool was a hole in the ground from the start and now it's finally turned into a sink hole. Close it.
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