CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL STUDY SESSION AGENDA
TUESDAY OCTOBER 8, 2024 6:00 PM
SAN DIMAS COUNCIL CHAMBER
CONFERENCE ROOM
245 EAST BONITA AVENUE
A public agenda packet is available for review on the City’s website www.sandimasca.gov or by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at [email protected].
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor Emmett Badar, Mayor Pro Tem Eric Nakano, Councilmember Rachel Bratakos, Councilmember Ryan A. Vienna, Councilmember Eric Weber
CALL TO ORDER AND FLAG SALUTE
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
(Members of the audience are invited to address the City Council on any item on this agenda. Public comment will not be taken during each individual agenda item, except for public hearing items.
Comments on public hearing items will be heard when that item is scheduled for discussion. Under the provisions of the Brown Act, the legislative body is prohibited from engaging in discussion on any item not appearing on the posted agenda. However, your concerns may be referred to staff or set for discussion at a later date. Each speaker will be limited to speaking once for up to (3) three minutes.) STUDY SESSION
1. Discussion and Direction on the Future of the City’s Recreation Center: Addressing Operational Deficits, Maintenance Needs, Capital Improvements and Consideration of Options Ranging from Major Renovation Options, Operating Until Failure, or Potential Closure
ADJOURNMENT
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Copies of documents distributed for the meeting are available in alternative formats upon request. Any
Notice Regarding Americans with Disabilities Act: In compliance with the ADA, if you need assistance to participate in a city meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at (909) 3946216. Early notification before the meeting you wish to attend will make it possible for the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting [28 CFR 35.10235.104 ADA Title II].
Copies of documents distributed for the meeting are available in alternative formats upon request. Any writings or documents provided to the City Council regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public review Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Administration Counter at City Hall and San Dimas Library. In addition, most documents are posted on the City’s website at www.sandimasca.gov.
Posting Statement: I declare under penalty of perjury that on October 4, 2024, I posted a true and correct copy of this agenda on the bulletin board in the Civic Center Plaza of City Hall at 245 E. Bonita Ave., San Dimas Library 145 N. Walnut Ave., San Dimas Post Office 300 E. Bonita Ave., Von’s Via Verde Shopping Center 1160 Via Verde Ave., and on the City’s website www.sandimasca.gov/agendasminutes/ as required by law.
October 3, 2024
Debra Black
Debra Black, City Clerk Page 2
Study Session
Agenda Item Staff Report
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
For the Meeting of October 8, 2024
From: Chris Constantin, City Manager
Prepared by: Scott Wasserman, Director of Parks & Recreation Subject: Discussion and Direction on the Future of the City’s Recreation Center:
Addressing Operational Deficits, Maintenance Needs, Capital Improvements and Consideration of Options Ranging from Major Renovation Options, Operating Until Failure, or Potential Closure
____________________________________________________________________________
SUMMARY
City staff is presenting an analysis of the Recreation Center’s current operational status, usage trends, and financial implications to provide information for the City Council to decide on the facility's future. The Recreation Center has been operating beyond its engineered lifespan, requiring significant repairs and ongoing operating subsidies. This report outlines potential courses of action, from continuing operations with necessary investments to the possible closure of the facility, with a detailed comparison of costs and community benefits.
RECOMMENDATION
City staff recommends that the City Council:
• Provide direction to staff regarding how to best proceed with addressing the operating subsidy, significant capital improvement requirements, and the next steps desired to properly consider alternatives.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact will depend on the option selected by the City Council. Each potential option is presented in this report to facilitate decision-making; however, more analysis may be required depending on the direction provided by the City Council. The Recreation Center currently incurs an annual operating deficit of approximately $600,000. Addressing the capital improvement needs could require investments ranging from $5,000,000 to over $36 million, depending on the extent of repairs or renovations desired.
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5 BACKGROUND
In FY 2024-25, the City of San Dimas was projected to experience a budget deficit of approximately $1.7 million. After thoughtful deliberation, the City Council approved operational reductions across all departments to reduce the deficit by $882,136. As staff and the City Council seek to align ongoing recreation programming with reduced revenues, additional reductions in programming are anticipated in the next two fiscal years. If the City Council desires to continue operating the Recreation Center, a plan to address capital improvements and an ongoing annual operating deficit of $600,000 will need to be addressed. In the event the City Council does not wish to continue operating the facility, staff would like to discuss potential strategies for winding down operations and the impact to staff and the community.
The 14,000 square foot Recreation Center was built in 1979 and became operational in 1981 for the primary purpose of providing a public swimming pool and aquatics programs to San Dimas residents. The facility houses multiple amenities including three racquetball courts, a weight room, an aerobics room, one jacuzzi, a teen activity room and staff offices. The facility also provides men’s and women’s locker rooms, steam rooms and saunas. A significant portion of the facility consists of three racquetball courts that are seldom used.
The primary amenities at the facility are two swimming pools that include a 55,000-gallon training pool and a competition pool that is 25 by 25 meters (285,000 gallons). The competition pool is regulation size for CIF water polo competitions and may be used for “short course” swim competitions. Both pools support core aquatic programming provided by the City that includes the provision of swim lessons, aqua aerobics and lap swim.
User Groups
The Bonita Unified School District (BUSD) uses the facility for its swim and water polo team practices and games at a cost of $160 per hour (or $129,760 for 811 hours). The BUSD is considered the core constituent for pool rentals and is afforded priority scheduling. The City also generates $263,000 in revenue from allocating pool time to a user group called San Dimas Aquatics, which uses the pool for recreational swimming and training. San Dimas Aquatics consists of 22 residents and 144 non-residents, for a residency rate of 13%.
Core Services
The Parks and Recreation Department considers the provision of swim lessons a core program and provided approximately 572 swim lessons in FY 2022-23 (334 residents and 238 nonresidents). Another core program is adult lap swim, which served 14,693 visitor-days in the same period (6,143 resident days and 8,550 non-resident days). Other services, such as recreation swim, dive-in movies, dance and fitness classes, and use of the jacuzzi and sauna are not considered core programs.
Maintenance and Repairs
The City continues to operate the facility beyond its engineered lifespan. In the mid-2000s, the City re-plastered both pools, re-paved the decking for both pools and replaced filter and chemical system components, lane lines, pool covers and pool gutters. Much of this equipment is now operating beyond its engineered lifespan and is in need of replacement again. Similarly, the pool deck is beginning to show rust and cracks and will need to be demolished and rebuilt if the City desires to continue operating the facility. While staff has been replacing critical equipment as it
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5 fails to keep the facility operating, this approach entails lengthy disruptions in service and diminished predictability in budgeting capital expenditures. Additionally, this piecemeal approach only addresses critical components when they fail without addressing broader issues with the critical systems of which they are a component.
Some needed repairs are identified in annual inspections conducted by the Los Angeles County Health Department. In 2023, the Los Angeles County Health Department noted the appearance of rust in the training pool and ordered it closed until it could be re-plastered. Following a closure of several weeks, the pool was re-plastered and opened to the public. Also, in 2023, the Los Angeles County Health inspector noted the appearance of rust in the competition pool, although the observation was not included as a finding in the final report. Nevertheless, staff has obtained an estimate of $250,000 to re-plaster the competition pool in anticipation of this direction from the inspector in 2024. Additionally, the inspector asked that the non-functional Jacuzzi be made operable or filled in with concrete prior to his next visit in 2024.
Usage Patterns
Overall, the facility is serving more non-residents than residents. In FY 2022-23, 2,076 individuals made 108,403 visits to the facility. This includes visits from 1,045 residents and 1,031 nonresidents. In a City with 34,000 residents, this represents 3% of residents.
Table 1: Total Visits 22-23
Visitors may also pay daily user fees to use the facility on a day-to-day basis without purchasing a membership. As noted in Table 2 below, non-members visited the facility 34,486 times, which includes 14,107 visits by residents (41%) and 21,689 visits by non-residents (59%).
Table 2: Daily Walk-In Visits
Group Visits 22-23 % Revenue Average Revenue
Per Visit
Resident 14,107 40.9% $29,197 $2.06
Non- Resident 21,689 59.1% $37,887 $1.85
Totals 34,486 100% $67,084 $1.95
Revenue Breakdown
Group Actual People 22-23 Total Visits
22-23
Average # of visits
22-23
Resident 859 21,689 25.2
Non-Resident 887 21,984 24.8
SDA Res 22 5,280 240
SDA Non-Res 144 34,560 240
BUSD 164 24,890 152
Totals 2,076 108,403 52
*SDA=San Dimas
Aquatics
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5 In FY 2021-2022, the Recreation Center ended the year with a $700,000 operational deficit. In FY 2022-23, staff reduced the annual deficit to approximately $600,000. Staff closed the deficit by increasing pool rentals to San Dimas Aquatics and by raising the hourly pool rental rate to $160 per hour. While pool use by San Dimas Aquatics (mostly non-residents) is not considered a core program, increasing the group’s pool rental time has generated additional revenue to support the facility. The remaining costs to operate the facility that are not recovered through recreation fees are subsidized by residents of San Dimas through the City’s General Fund.
Table 3: REVENUE BREAKDOWN BY ACTIVITY
SDRC ATTENDANCE
FY 22-23 Resident
NonResidentTotal
Enrollment Revenue
Adult Lap Swim (visits) 6,143* 8,550* 14,693* $25,338.50 BUSD 150 0 150 $129,760
Dance Classes 135 133 268 $6,078
Fitness Classes 25 55 80 $9,415
Kids Fun Club 40 20 60 $2,710
Masters 44 250 294 $18,120
Recreation Swim 3,611* 0 3,611* $2,280
Red Cross Courses 4 10 14 $700
San Dimas Aquatics 24 144 166 $263,457
Swim Lessons 334 238 572 $35,173
Swim Season Pass -
Family 62 84 146 $7,300
Swim Season Pass -
Individual 6 2 8 $240
Memberships - Regular 2,935* 3,337* 6,272* $32,270
Totals 13,733 14,099 27,832 $507,503
* These are not unique visitors, but visitor-days, and calculating the the number of unique visitors would require hand tabulation.
Community Recreation Preferences
In two recent surveys, residents have identified having a swimming pool as a low priority. In 2020, the City conducted a Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment study with RJM Design Group.
The purpose of the study was to identify residents’ recreation preferences to facilitate planning and budgeting for future recreation programs, amenities and facilities. In 2020, residents identified swimming pool as the lowest priority for improvements after other amenities.
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5 Similarly, in the 2023 Resident Survey, upgrading the aquatics facility ranked last in terms of spending priorities with only about 36% of respondents believing it was a medium or high priority.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS
How do San Dimas’s aquatics programs compare to other cities aquatics programs? Surrounding cities operate aquatic facilities that are comparable to the Recreation Center.
However, only the City of Duarte operates its facility using a membership model, similar to San Dimas. Table 4 illustrates the services offered at aquatic facilities in neighboring cities.
Table 4: Regional Aquatic Programs
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5 City Facility Memberships Senior
Classes
Swim
Lessons
Lap
Swim
Recreation
Swim
Swim
Team
San Dimas Own Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
La Verne Own No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Glendora HS No No Yes Yes No Yes
Claremont Wading
Pool
N/A N/A N/A N/A Yes N/A
Walnut HS No No Yes Yes No Yes
Duarte Own Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Baldwin Park Own No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Azusa Own No No Yes Yes Yes No
Irwindale Own No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
El Monte Own No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
*HS – High School
Table 5 illustrates fees at the Recreation Center compared to membership fees charged by the City of Duarte.
Table 5: Membership Fee Comparison with the City of Duarte Membership Type San
Dimas
Res.
Duarte
Res.
San
Dimas
Non-Res
Duarte
Non-Res.
Individual $230 $200 $265 $275
Family $395 $300 $420 $400
Aquatics/Exercise/Aerobics N/A $150 N/A $200
Racquetball/Exercise/Aerobics N/A $150 N/A $200
Senior N/A $120 N/A N/A
Senior Family N/A $220 N/A N/A
STRATEGIES TO REDUCE ANNUAL OPERATING DEFICIT
Increase Pool Rental Fee - In 2021, the City’s hourly rental fee for use of the competition pool was $70. For Fiscal Year 2022-23, the City increased the hourly pool rental rate to $140. The rate was raised again in 2023 to $160. This increase primarily impacts the BUSD and San Dimas Aquatics, both which are significant users. BUSD rents the pool for approximately 811 hours per year. Corresponding revenue for BUSD use of the pool were $56,770 in 2021, $113,540 in 2022 and $129,760 in 2023. San Dimas Aquatics generates approximately $263,457 in revenue from pool rentals.
Identify New Revenue Stream – In 2022, the City began allowing San Dimas Aquatics to rent the competition pool. In 2024, this usage is projected to generate $263,457 in new revenue. As previously noted in Table 3 above, San Dimas Aquatics has 166 members, of which 22 are residents and 144 are non-residents, for a residency rate of 15%. Increasing rental time for San Dimas Aquatics increases revenue to support the facility. However, increasing pool rentals to generate revenue reduces the amount of time the pool is available to offer core programming to residents (i.e. lap swim, recreation swim, swim lessons).
Increase Membership/Registration Fees – The City of San Dimas regularly increases recreation fees so that they are comparable to fees for that are charged for similar services in surrounding
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5 cities. The City currently charges $230 for a one-year individual membership and $395 for a one-year family membership. At this time, the City’s membership fees are comparable to membership fees charged by the City of Duarte (please see Table 5, above). When compared to local gyms, a membership to the Recreation Center is less expensive.
Identify New Site to Construct new Pool - Staff also met with BUSD staff in an attempt to identify a new location on campus to build a competition pool that the school district could operate.
However, staff of the two entities were not able to identify a suitable location.
Request BUSD Financial Contribution – The City Manager requested that the BUSD contribute $300,000 in FY 2024-25 as a set aside to pay for facility improvements. This would have been in addition to revenue generated from renting the pool. The BUSD did not agree to make the cash contribution toward future improvements. However, the BUSD has expressed a willingness to contribute toward the completion of improvement projects once the projects are identified and costs are known.
Equal Partnerships with La Verne and San Dimas – The BUSD has an Agreement with the City of La Verne and the University of La Verne that obligates the school district to pay 1/3 the cost of all pool improvements. The City of San Dimas may wish to pursue a similar agreement with the District. The BUSD has funds available from its bond measure to improve swimming pools in La Verne and San Dimas which may be a source to fund significant capital improvements; however, an ongoing operational deficit is still an impediment.
Water Polo Tournaments - City staff has considered organizing water polo tournaments and swim meets to generate additional revenue to support the facility. However, the potential to organize well-attended competitions is limited by the size of the pool and deck, limited spectator seating, and limited parking. Additionally, the City would be competing with other more modern aquatic facilities that host competitions and do not face these same constraints. Most cities do not organize regular water polo tournaments or swim meets; these events are typically organized by water polo clubs and swim teams.
Additionally, Southern California is saturated with the most water polo tournaments in the United States. USA Water Polo is the official governing body for youth water polo that sanctions an average four large tournaments per month in California. Most tournaments are hosted at large high schools or universities with Olympic sized pools (50m x 25m) and the capacity to accommodate parking and spectators for 16-20 teams. Water polo field of play is 25m x 20m which allows a portion of the larger pool to be available for players to warm up or to host two games, simultaneously.
ALTERNATIVES
City staff engaged a professional consultant to assist in the development of potential options for renovation. If the City Council wishes to continue operating the Recreation Center, the body will need to direct staff to proceed with one of the following options to renovate the facility:
1. $5,000,000 - $8,000,000- Critical Community Priority Option This option focuses on the critical need to provide the BUSD with a swimming pool and the provision of swim lessons to residents. Capital improvements would focus only on the competition pool, pool deck, filter room and chemical room that support the competition pool and would be jointly funded by the District and City. The rest of the facility will be closed to the public and the services that are offered inside the building would be discontinued. Under this scenario, the public
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5 would no longer have access to saunas, steam rooms, the Student Union, jacuzzi, fitness room, racquetball courts or weight room. The facility would no longer sell memberships, as the primary users would be the BUSD aquatic teams and San Dimas Aquatics. The facility will continue to be maintained by the City but would be minimally staffed. Coaches for the BUSD aquatic teams and San Dimas Aquatics would be issued facility keys and permitted to use the facilities as needed, without ongoing City supervision during their use. Both entities would continue to pay pool rental fees. As previously discussed, the BUSD has funds that were generated by its bond measure and has indicated a willingness to contribute toward facility improvements.
This model seeks to replicate the contractual relationship the BUSD has with the City of La Verne to use and maintain its pool. Under this arrangement, the BUSD uses the City of La Verne’s competition pool, for which it pays 1/3 of the costs of improvements. The balance of the cost of improvements is borne by the City of La Verne and the University of La Verne.
This option would reduce the annual General Fund subsidy of $600,000 that is currently needed to operate the facility, since the City would reduce staffing at the facility. Lifeguards would be available to offer swim lessons but would not need to supervise BUSD or San Dimas Aquatics activities. Other aquatic programming would be discontinued, such as lap swim, recreation swim, and dive-in movies.
Additionally, this option does not address the large capital asset in the building that will be mostly decommissioned. Further, the City would be left with a large aging building which is not utilized, outside of the pool-related amenities, and would still be a future liability for renovation, rehabilitation, or removal.
2. $5,000,000 – $8,000,000 BUSD Assumes Ownership of Facility This option is very similar to the first option discussed, except, the facility would be turned over to BUSD. The City and BUSD would jointly fund improvements to the pool deck, filter room, competition pool, locker rooms and restrooms. Upon the conclusion of improvements, the facility would be turned over to the BUSD to operate for its benefit. This may be in some type of sale scenario or transfer. This option would potentially eliminate the entire General Fund subsidy and the need for the City to maintain or staff the facility.
3. $17,091,000 – Moderate renovation to include renovation of the competition pool, filter and chemical room, and the replacement of equipment in the weight room and building fixtures and furnishings. This option does not include any improvements to the racquetball courts, training pool, locker rooms or restrooms. It is anticipated that this option will extend the operational life of the facility by 20 years. A funding source will need to be identified if the City Council wishes to proceed with this option.
The option may have some reduction in costs associated with improvements reducing the capital needs in the short-term; however, there will still be operating subsidy required due to revenue not matching expenditures of the facility.
4. $21,477,000 – Complete an extensive renovation of the items listed above, in Option 3. This option does not include any renovations to the training pool. It is anticipated that this option will extend the life of the facility by 20 years. A funding source will need to be identified if the City Council wishes to proceed with this option.
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5 The option may have some reduction in costs associated with improvements reducing the capital needs in the short-term; however, there will still be operating subsidy required due to revenue not matching expenditures of the facility.
5. $36,434,000– Demolish and re-build existing facility from the ground up. This option is the most expensive and would provide the opportunity to re-design the entire facility to maximize activity areas and reflect current health and safety standards. It is anticipated that this option will provide the City with a new aquatic facility that can serve the community for over 30 years. A funding source will need to be identified if the City Council wishes to proceed with this option.
The option may or may not continue to result in operating subsidies given the arrangement the City may have with significant user groups or how the facility is designed, used, and operated.
More analysis would be necessary to reflect
6. Status Quo Piecemeal Approach – This option involves operating the facility until it experiences a catastrophic failure that would require closure. Under this scenario, limited resources would be focused on maintaining the competition pool, restrooms and locker rooms only. While the piecemeal replacement of equipment may be the least expensive approach to keeping the facility in service for a limited time, it is not without risk. For example, replacing a component of the filtration or chemical systems may enable the facility to continue serving the public indefinitely. However, these systems are complicated and other aging components could fail without warning, necessitating temporary facility closures and additional repairs costs.
The City is already experiencing such failure issues, such as the emergency replacement of its internal hot water tank which spring a lead due to failure. These types of emergencies will result in unpredictable shutdown of parts of the facility, cost, and an unknown future for operations of the facility.
7. Further Detailed Assessment - To obtain a more thorough assessment of the filtration system, boilers, chemical systems and components, and pool decks, the City has obtained an estimate of $25,000 from Griffin Structures to perform a detailed facility assessment. Such an assessment, if desired by the City Council, would enable staff to develop a comprehensive timeline and budget to address all equipment in the filter room, chemical room and the competition pool.
If the City Council wishes to proceed with this option, staff respectfully requests that the body approve an allocation of $25,000 to complete the detailed study cited above.
CONCLUSION
There are strategic issues to consider in any decision.
1. Capital Maintenance Requirements:
The facility requires substantial investment to remain operational. Key repairs include replastering both pools, addressing rust and wear in the pool deck, and replacing outdated filtration and chemical systems. A full renovation could extend the facility’s lifespan, but costs range from $5 million to over $36 million, depending on the scope of the project. The investment required would necessitate financing which results in significant annual funding requirements.
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5 2. Community Value vs. Financial Sustainability:
Survey results show that residents rank the swimming pool as a low priority. A recent resident survey revealed that only 36% of respondents believe upgrading the aquatics facility is a medium or high priority. Thus, the Council must weigh the community's needs against the financial burden of continuing operations. An alternative, such as the BUSD taking ownership or participating in operating subsidy of the facility may change the cost/benefit of the facility; however, any decision is really a tradeoff between this activity and other activities which are competing for limited resources. In the next few years, such competition may result in reduction decisions for other critical priorities. Thus, the City must also consider these tradeoffs.
3. Resident vs. Non-Resident Usage:
The Recreation Center is used by a small percentage of residents. With a significant portion of the users being non-residents, the City Council should consider whether the General Fund should continue subsidizing a facility primarily benefiting non-residents.
Not all programs and services must be cost recovery. However, the goal of cities is to provide a variety of activities which support the quality and fabric of a community by taking in tax revenue, fees, and other revenue and translating those into benefits for residents and businesses. Most of the time, these activities are expenditures and not revenue generators. However, everything comes down to a balance of what a city wants to offer, at what financial cost, and for which type of benefit desired by the public.
4. Comparison with Neighboring Cities:
Neighboring cities provide aquatic services through various models, with most relying on schools or partnerships. Only Duarte operates a membership model similar to San Dimas. However, Duarte charges lower fees and has a more robust partnership with its school district.
While comparisons are important, the City needs to also realize that each city, its goals, priorities, pressures, and ability to provide activities are different. Looking to another city is not an apples-to-apples comparison when the complex fabric of decision making includes the tradeoffs each city makes, such as the revenue generated in the communities, the drivers of costs (i.e. crime driving public safety spending), and the philosophy of how the cities spend taxpayer money and what programs and services it wants to offer.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Pursuant to CEQA guidelines Section 15061 (b)(3), CEQA does not apply to this item because there is no potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no additional environmental review is needed at this time.
Respectfully submitted,
Scott Wasserman,
Director of Parks & Recreation