By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — On November 9, 2022, the Claremont City Council voted in favor of a motion for the City Manager to work with a consultation firm, in regard to the Claremont Savings Bank Community Center.
The motion for City Manager Yoshi Manale to proceed with a Request For Proposal with a consultant came after a request from newly hired Parks and Recreation Director Nick Lawrence, to create a volunteer-based community committee to help the center create a viable business plan.
Some community members have raised concerns with the city’s tax subsidy for the community center as well as reports of the center costing more than it has raised internally. City Councilors and city staff have acknowledged the decrease in funds and have begun investigating ways in which the CSBCC can begin to increase revenue in a “post-covid” environment.
Lawrence spoke before the city council on November 9th with a proposal to, “Establish a volunteer advisory committee, which works with the director to focus exclusively on the operational success of the center,” and that the committee would be, “empowered to make formal recommendations to the director.”
The intention of the committee would have been to have five potential members chosen by Lawrence and Manale, and have them approved by the city council. Manale stated that they could bring some business expertise that Lawrence may not have.
Some city council members drew issue with the proposed committee including city council member Nick Koloski, who made the passed motion, stating that it would be, “kicking the can down the road.” He stated that he believed that community members could come up with suggestions but that it’s in the best interest of saving time to hire a consultant.
City Councilor Jon Stone, who seconded Koloski’s motion, continued on that line of thinking, drawing concern in regard to the timeliness of creating a business plan for the center.
“We are at a point where we need results quicker. We need action and a business plan. We need a professional to come in and tell us what we need for a business plan,” Stone said at the meeting.
Manale suggested that time would be of the essence with the group and that they would meet quickly and work toward being as efficient as possible considering their only focus would be the community center, once their job was finished they would disband he stated. This concept, however, was in conflict with the proposal as Lawrence stated that committee members would hold two year term limits.
Manale did also acknowledge that the committee may ultimately end up recommending that the city seek an outside consultant but that the premise of the proposal was to reach out to the community and have their input to potentially fix the financial issues at the community center without burdening the taxpayers.
City Councilor Matt Mooshian did also refer to the significant number of community members who have reached out to the community via public meetings with input on the community center and suggested along with City Councilor Spencer Batchelder that they would need a better idea of a time frame for the committee.
“I do think of this as a group of stakeholders. We have heard from community members that they care about the center. It would benefit us if they were involved in this,” Mooshian stated to his fellow city council members.
According to Assistant Mayor Deb Mattaeu and Ballard*King Associates website, the recreation consulting firm completed a feasibility study for the community center that included market analysis and operations. Members of the city council have never seen this study and Mattaeu asked that this information be given to the council.
“I’m not scared of the time frame for an RFP to come back. Of all the committees I’ve been on, especially this one, with very powerful business opinions talking about the center, I don’t know the results you’re going to get. My motion would be for the city manager to proceed with an RFP for a consultant to study and advise on current methods to increase revenue, memberships and operational efficiency,” said Koloski, making his motion.
The city council voted on Koloski’s motion and it passed 7-2 with City Councilor James Contois and Mooshian voting no.
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