MOUNT VERNON — Visitors can expect to pay higher fees to get into the city’s new water park this summer.
Mayor Richard Mavis discussed proposed rate increases and other cost-cutting measures during a City Council Parks & Lands Committee meeting on Monday. He said raising seasonal and daily rates and reducing water park-related costs could lead to about $59,000 in savings and increased revenue. The proposed increases would raise the cost of each season pass by $10, and raise the daily rate by $1 a person.
Mavis said the rate increases should generate nearly $30,000 in additional revenue. A reduction in the number of employees at the water park, along with an increase in concession stand prices and savings in equipment and promotions, should result in $29,000 in savings, setting the total amount of revenue for 2008 at an estimated $334,442.
The Hiawatha Water Park/Pool is located on Sychar Road. It opened last summer and cost the city about $3.5 million.
In response to a question from Councilman Burt Hanson as to how much the operating costs plus the debt payments for the construction of the water park will be this year, Mavis said that, if the total estimated revenue for this season is correct, the city will be able to cover operating expenses at the water park as well as $15,000 of the debt payment. The debt payment this year is about $215,000, which has already been set aside in this year’s budget.
Mavis said council must pass legislation to enact the proposed rate increase and cost-cutting measures. Council agreed to have the legislation put on the agenda at the next council meeting.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” said Councilman Mike Hillier.
Hanson said that at this point, he is agreeable to the legislation, but hopes steps are taken to further increase fees to raise more money to retire the debt. He said the debt payments take away city funds that could be used for other services, and he is not sure the entire community should have to pay off the debt.
Councilman Chuck Dice, committee chairman, asked that legislation be drafted for the next meeting and said he plans to support its passage.
At the outset of the meeting, the mayor explained the basis for his estimates. He said that in the 2007 season, the average daily attendance was 560 for a 94-day season. Mavis said about 50,400 people came through the gates last year. He added that city officials could extend the season and open the water park May 24. The administration had planned to open around that date in 2007, but the opening did not take place until the first weekend in June.
“Now the question will be, when is the pool going to open,” he said.
The mayor said the administration is taking steps to cut costs and increase revenue and said that this year, the city will be able to obtain funds by renting a tent to corporations. The tent is located just east of the water park’s slides. He also said he hopes to have informational fliers with information on rates and rules sent out to city and county residents by the first week of April.
In other business:
•Council received notice of a liquor license transfer, from New Hong Kong Buffet, 977 Coshocton Ave., to Blessed Adventure LLC. Chief Executive Officer Terry Allison, and secretary Pamela Allison, plan to open the old Greenleaf Restaurant on 11587 Upper Gilchrist Road under the name Allison’s Finer Diner later this year.
•Council adopted a resolution authorizing Safety-Service Director Dave Glass to purchase a machete boom mower, a piece of equipment that attaches to the underside of a tractor needed to mow ditches and dikes, through the state purchasing program. Glass said the equipment is used almost everyday, and the old one is almost 15 years old and needs to be replaced.
•Council adopted two other resolutions, one reappointing Gail LaBenne and Mary Schlegel to the Mount Vernon Historical Review Committee, the other confirming the mayor’s reappointment of Dr. Emerson Laird and Margeret Mavis and appointment of Lois Hanson to the Library Board of Trustees.
•Councilman Bruce Hawkins invited the public to meet with council members at Sip’s at 101 S. Main St. on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. for an informal discussion of city matters.
•Council went into executive session at the conclusion of the legislative meeting to discuss pending litigation. No further action was taken.
