Exploring New Ideas: Recreation Center
Last night (January 19, 2021) at the regularly scheduled Council meeting, I introduced a proposal to Council involving utilizing an existing facility in Hudson, LifeCenter Plus, to be turned into a recreation center.
I am suggesting the following options for my fellow Council members to consider.
Option 1:
City enters into an agreement with LifeCenter which effectively makes it our Rec center, a property tax levy pays for subsidized (reduced) membership and some capital improvements. Jerry Lynch, current owner, continues to own and operate the facility.
Funded via property tax levy
Option 2:
City purchases the facility, Jerry Lynch continues to operate it.
*would need to discuss capital improvements, if any
Estimated cost of facility (purchase only): $5 mil*
Option 3:
City purchases the facility, operates the business, and reduces cost of membership.
*would need to discuss capital improvements, if any
Estimated cost of facility at $5 mil* + operation costs and membership subsidy
This proposal was born out of an incredible amount of citizen feedback that an amenity Hudson still really needs is a rec center. I have heard this countless times, most recently as the future of the Phase 2 site was discussed. I feel that it is past due for us to have this conversation, and that we should gauge the interest of the community to evaluate if this is something we should seriously consider.
A property tax levy is something I take seriously and do not suggest lightly. I believe the role Council should play in this is to solidify a plan that makes sense and utilize citizen input to do so, then put this on the November ballot for the voters to decide.
While I have presented just three options for Council to consider, there is no reason Council cannot explore more options that I did not outline. Some have requested we compare these options to the cost of building a new, state-of-the-art facility from scratch, just so we have a comparison. I presented these three options because I believe updating an existing facility is the fiscally responsible solution to address this resident need.
It is worth noting that in about 12 hours time, this idea has generated over 350 comments from residents between online responses and direct constituent contact. The response has been overwhelming, and in the best way possible!
Have questions? Want to share with me your thoughts on this topic? As always, I would love to have a conversation! Email me directly at nkowalski@hudson.oh.us.
*We estimated a purchase price of $5 million based on the 2018 appraised value of $4,750,000, and adjusted it to 2020. This is not an exact valuation by any means. This is a preliminary estimation for conversation purposes only. Now that there has been significant community interest, staff can engage a professional to do a valuation of the BUSINESS in totality. This will give Council and residents a better idea of the cost of moving forward with options 2 or 3.
