by Staff Writer
(8/29/2019, CAMAS, WA) Yesterday's meeting of the Camas Parks and Recreation Commission yielded far more questions than answers regarding the massive $78 million aquatic center proposal on tap for Camas voters this Fall. Several members of the community were in attendance to hear the Commission's update on the Bond proposal, but came away with few details. "When the members of the Camas Parks and Rec Commission don't have a clue as to what is going on with this huge bond proposal, it really causes me concern that we have put the cart firmly in front of the horse," commented Camas resident Scott Hogg. "The questions people posed here tonight are legitimate, and it's troubling that the Commission has so few answers," he said.
Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Randy Curtis told the audience that his Commission has had no contact with the City Council regarding the pool bond for "the last five months", and that he did not know if the actual management or operation of the giant facility would even fall under his control. When asked who would manage the facility if it wasn't Parks and Rec, he responded, "I don't know."
Who is going to manage the new facility? And why is the Camas Parks and Recreation Commission so completely in the dark about something that would clearly fall under their purview?
Camas Parks and Recreation Manager Jerry Acheson presented the update on the pool bond, which consisted of 2 items- 1) The 2nd Open House (to promote the $78 million bond) would take place on October 2; and 2) Mailers supporting the bond proposal would be mailed to all Camas residents in October, about two weeks before Voter ballots were sent out.
That was the entirety of the update. It took less than 2 minutes. But it certainly didn't end the questions.
Several attendees voiced their frustration over the transparency of the actual financial projections for the operation of the facility. If the City estimates that the new pool will cost roughly $2.6 million each year to operate, then it only makes sense that they would have a complete plan to generate that kind of annual revenue. How many residents would have to join? How much would user fees ultimately be? How much can taxpayers expect the center to actually bring in each year? What might the actual operating loss look like?
It is imperative that these type of profit/loss financial pro-formas are created and studied first, so the results can be used to guide the size or cost of a new facility based on what the expected revenues dictate. But when Acheson was asked to produce these financial statements, he responded, "We don't have those...we don't believe they exist."
These crucial financial projections are not only unavailable at Parks and Rec, but are found nowhere in the aquatic center website. They were also not included in the City Council's Information Packets, and could not have been considered by the Council before they voted to put the bond on the ballot.
Acheson was also asked if a land survey has been completed on the selected location to address the concerns of landslides or water table issues, considering the digout of a facility like this is extremely deep, to which he replied, "I don't know".
Think about that. A $78 million, 20 year bond proposal was recommended by the Camas City Council, without them ever seeing the projected annual profit and loss statements. Without any participation from Parks and Rec. Without any understanding as to who would actually run the facility. Without any land surveys to even confirm the selected site is buildable. Unfortunately, the questions for the Camas Parks and Recreation Commission were many, but the answers were few.
Here's what was revealed last night at the Lacamas Lake Lodge:
1. Parks and Rec doesn't know if they'll be the ones running the facility.
2. Parks and Rec doesn't know who WILL be running the facility if it's not them.
3. Parks and Rec has not participated in the discussion/formulation of the facility plan for the last 5 months by request of the City Council.
4. Parks and Rec knows about the projected $2.6M expense and $2.3M revenue figures, but claims there is no operating pro-forma.
5. Commission Chair Randy Curtis warned the City Council that the proposed site sits at the base of a potentially dangerous or catastrophic landslide zone, yet they selected the site anyways.
6. A splash pad or small water park is also planned for Crown Park, completely outside the scope of the pool bond.
7. The commission studying the Metro Parks Tax District has been silenced during the push for the bond, but not eliminated. This allows it to reconvene after the pool bond has been voted on, and become a new taxing mechanism designed to pay for huge operational losses that the new facility will likely incur.
Next month's Camas Parks and Recreation Commission meeting will actually take place in the City Council Chambers, and will be broadcast live over the Internet.
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