BERLIN – Questions surrounding a proposed YMCA feasibility study prompted Berlin officials to delay a decision on the issue.
On Monday, town staff presented the Berlin Town Council with a recommendation to spend $20,000 on a YMCA feasibility study, the first step in bringing one of the facilities to Berlin Falls Park. Councilmembers voted to table a decision on whether to proceed until they got more information regarding the proposed study—which was recommended by the Berlin Falls Park Advisory Committee—and what it would entail.
“I respect the committee’s recommendation, but we need to make sure we’re getting a good sample of our population and we’re actually targeting the right people to solicit responses from,” Councilman Zack Tyndall said.
David Deutsch, project coordinator for Berlin Falls Park, presented an update of the efforts of the Berlin Falls Park Advisory Committee (BFPAC) at Monday’s council meeting. He said that during the 14 months since the BFPAC was formed, its members had met with a variety of individuals and organizations as they made plans for the future of the 60-acre park. The committee has helped organization the installation of interpretive signs in the park and has also recommended demolition of the 60,000-square-foot building on the park property.
After meeting with Robbie Gill, CEO of YMCA of the Chesapeake, and Brian Twilley, a longtime board member of the YMCA of the Chesapeake, the committee voted to recommend the town proceed with a YMCA feasibility study for the property.
Town Administrator Laura Allen said staff supported the committee’s recommendation to move forward with the study. She said it would essentially determine if there was a market for a YMCA in Berlin. The study, expected to cost no more than $20,000, would be performed by a group recommended by the YMCA.
“The YMCA folks do have one firm they typically work with,” she said, adding that the company included several former YMCA employees.
Allen said the study would determine whether the project was feasible.
“From the staff perspective it’s worth the money to get the information,” she said.
Councilman Thom Gulyas asked what the survey would involve.
“They do a lot of phone contact then they prepare a report,” Deutsch said.
When asked if the firm would solicit information via paper and internet surveys, Deutsch said he believed they had relied on information received via email in another town’s study that he’d reviewed.
“So the 20 grand would get us primarily a lot of phone calls?” Gulyas said.
Deutsch said it would be more than that, as the firm would determine things like how far people would be willing to drive to visit the YMCA as well as the community’s willingness to pay.
“That kind of data is critical,” Deutsch said.
He added that after the feasibility study, a second study would determine fundraising feasibility.
Gulyas also asked what sort of lease would be involved with a YMCA at the park. Deutsch said the committee hadn’t explored that issue but that he’d asked Gill about it.
“The YMCA’s expectation is if there’s a long-term ground lease it would be for the proverbial dollar a year,” he said. “They don’t want to burden their operating cost with rent.”
He added that in Talbot County, the board of education had agreed to a 99-year lease with the YMCA.
Councilman Dean Burrell said he was concerned about the accessibility of a potential YMCA. He pointed to Pocomoke’s YMCA, which is located outside of town, as an example.
“The folks that could possibly utilize those services and need those services don’t have transportation,” he said.
Deutsch said other YMCAs on the Eastern Shore had arrangements to ensure accessibility. He said he expected a cooperative agreement could be worked out with the local school system or Shore Transit.
Burrell said he also wanted more information on how the study firm would select people to survey.
Though the BFPAC met with Worcester County Director of Recreation and Parks Tom Perlozzo, Mayor Gee Williams said the county was working on a different angle with its discussions of a sports complex.
“It’s a different concept,” he said.
Deutsch agreed and said that the county was interested in creating a regional draw, a complex of sports fields that likely wouldn’t even fit at Berlin Falls Park, as half of the site’s acreage was not developable.
“If the county is going to partner with a private operator and do something in the northern part of the county, that would be positive perhaps for folks who live in this part of the county but I don’t think it necessarily takes away from the prospect of a YMCA or that type of facility at Berlin Falls Park,” Deutsch said.
Gulyas said he was concerned about the YMCA from a financial standpoint. He stressed that he was not “anti-Y” but that the town already had a $2.5 million note on the property and was facing the expense of tearing the large building on the site down first. That is expected to cost $600,000, though there is the possibility the town could get a grant to cover half the cost.
“It’s another 20 grand for a study just to see if people want it…In order to find out if there’s fundraising availability that’s going to be another 20, 30, 40 grand on top of that and then they want to lease it for a dollar a year,” Gulyas said. “My question to you is how do I look at a taxpayer and say this is a good idea when they’re asking and they’re telling me why did you lease this. If we do this for one then at what point do we start doing it for the others? How do we get away from the fact that we’re paying for a study for a nonprofit to come in and then we’ve got other nonprofits that we deal with, the list is endless. How do we say no to those folks if they want a study done? That’s where I have a problem. That’s where I’m confused about this. It’s going to be expensive.”
Williams said the big expense was constructing the YMCA.
“That’s not something the town would be underwriting,” he said.
He added that the fundraising for the YMCA couldn’t start until the town had committed to the process.
“You can’t go out and raise money for something that ‘hey we might do it, we could do it…,’” he said. “There’s a lot of philanthropy on the Eastern Shore it’s just never been directed in any major way to Berlin.”
Gulyas said he was willing to be the first person to step up to the cause. He offered to cover the cost of the printing of survey forms.
“I’ll pay for that and save the 20 grand,” he said. “Let’s just see if there’s any kind of input from anybody.”
Allen said the feasibility study as proposed was considered a critical first step by the YMCA.
“What I hear you proposing is the town could do this kind of analysis ourselves,” she said. “My understanding is the YMCA would not accept that.”
Williams said that was not the town’s area of expertise.
BFPAC member Roger Fitzgerald spoke up in favor of the study. He said the committee hadn’t made the recommendation lightly but rather had discussed the proposal extensively.
“I see this $20,000 as just the kickoff phase to show the Y that we’re serious about engaging them as a partner,” he said. “I know it’s a lot of money but there’s been a lot of money spent on the park already. We didn’t just lightly come up and say ‘toss $20,000 to the wind. It seemed like this was the entry to get into the Y universe.”
Tyndall said he respected the committee’s input but wanted to ensure the council’s questions regarding the feasibility study and the surveying that went along with it were answered. The council voted 4-0, with Councilman Troy Purnell absent, to table a decision on the feasibility study.
