MOUNT VERNON — Members of Mount Vernon City Council chimed in Monday on a proposal to raise the rates at the city’s water park, increases proposed to help cover water park debt payments and operating costs.
A majority of council members voiced support for increasing the cost of a season membership by $5 for individuals ages 1 to 59 and $10 for families.
Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Mavis said he would like to get informational fliers for the 2008 season sent to area residents around the end of April, and asked council to come to an agreeement on the rate increases.
In February, the mayor proposed hikes of $10 for all season passes and $1 for daily entrance fees. He also presented council with a number of new cost-cutting and revenue-raising measures, including a reduction in the number of employees at the water park and the idea of renting a part of the facility to local companies, which he said could generate about $30,000 in additional revenue.
Councilman Chuck Dice said membership rates should not be increased for children.
“I don’t want to see any child prevented from going to the water park,” he said. “I definitely think we’ve got to give the youth a little break.”
The Hiawatha Water Park/Pool on Sychar Road was completed in 2006. It cost about $3.5 million to build; the annual debt payments total about $215,000.
Councilman Burt Hanson, who advocates the increases, said the city will have to pay the debt payment again next year. The money comes from the city’s general fund, money which he said could be used to improve city streets or police and fire services. He said he listened carefully to the mayor’s plan to cut costs and reduce revenue, and he would like to see how effective this plan is one year from now.
Councilman John Fair said he opposes rate increases, particularly rate increases every year and increases that affect area children. He said city officials should find a better pay of alleviating the debt than transmitting the cost to the people who use the water park, and warned council not to increase the cost so much that it drives people away.
Councilwoman Rebecca Jordan said she and her family enjoyed the water park and she would hate to lose something that area children enjoy. She also said it would be worth looking into the idea of raising additional donations to bring down the debt.
Council President John Booth said he would like to see the rates remain unchanged this year, adding that the bad press alone could lead to a decline in the sale of memberships. He said after this year the city will have a better idea of the operating expenses at the pool than last year.
“We know we’ll lose money,” he said. “The only question is, how much?”
Councilman Bruce Hawkins said there are other worthy causes that require funding beside the water park, but there is a finite number of dollars. He said money has to be raised to bring down the cost of the debt payment and he doesn’t think $10 constitutes a huge increase.
Councilman Mike Hillier also said he doesn’t consider the hikes to be huge, and thinks the debt has to be covered. He said he doesn’t object to putting money into the water park, adding that the city invests money in the parks, even though not every resident uses them.
Councilman D. Derk Demaree said he supported the idea of the water park, and initial research from other communities suggested the new facility could pay for itself. He said the water park is a wonderful facility and it would be worth taking some kind of loss so the community can continue to enjoy it, but he hopes costs can be cut so that the need for other services is balanced.
Mavis said the city raised about $800,000 in donations last year for the water park; he doesn’t think it is viable to go back to the same donors for additional donations. He added that, without the debt, the water park would be able to pay for its own operating costs.
In a straw vote, a majority of council members agreed with the idea of increasing the family membership by $10 but increasing the membership for youth by only $5. Hanson said he thinks all the membership rates should be increased by $10; and Fair and Jordan objectedto increases of any kind.
In a committee meeting earlier in the evening, the heads of various downtown organizations, including the Heritage Centre Association and the Mount Vernon-Knox County Chamber of Commerce, spoke in favor of continuing the enforcement of two-hour parking limit for spaces in the Central Business District.
In October, the city began to enforce the regulation and hired a part-time parking attendant to issue tickets. Council agreed to employ the attendant on a six-month trial basis.
Lynne Ricard, downtown manager for HCA, said a majority of the merchants in the downtown whom she had asked were in favor of continuing the enforcement, and felt it had cut down on the number of employees taking up parking spaces reserved for customers.
Ted Rice, HCA board president, spoke to council about plans to add a number of new signs to the downtown area. He said the news signs are designed to help direct visitors to destination points in the city and to downtown parking. Similar signs, he said, are in Dublin and Westerville; hopefully, they will help not only increase the sales of downtown businesses but will renew interest from local residents and make them take a second look at the downtown.
Rice said the HCA is still calculating cost estimates. He said the HCA would welcome financial help from the city but is looking for as much funding as possible from private sources. He added that the signs can be beneficial to the city, as they can also direct people to parks such as Foundation Park, which he said can be hard for even local residents to find.
In other business:
•Council adopated a resolution authorizing Safety-Service Director Dave Glass to enter into an agreement with Richland Engineering, enabling the city to receive professional engineering services. Glass said the contract is set to expire in a few weeks. The administration is in the process of selecting a full-time city engineer. When this is done, Glass said, the portion of the contract that allows an engineer from Richland to come to the city once day a week will expire. But, he added, even after a new city engineer is brough on board, the contract will allow the administration to call on Richland for engineering services when needed.
•Council adopted a resolution authorizing City Auditor Terry Scott to pay three bills from 2007, including one in the amount of $3,883 to Howells & Baird, which stems from the design and construction cost of the city’s water park, and to make two transfers totaling $30,000 within the wastewater department.
•At the end of the meeting, council went into executive session to discuss pending litigation. No further action was taken.
