Volusia Flagler YMCA officials made their pitch to the Flagler County School Board for a $3 million contribution to help pay for the $16 million Y planned for Palm Coast’s Town Center. The same officials made the same request of Palm Coast government in April.
Palm Coast is almost in. The $3 million is in the city’s capital budget the council takes up on Aug. 12. If the council approves, it would provide $2 million to the Y in the fiscal year starting in October, and $1 million the following year. The city has also donated the land, a $2 million value previously donated to the city by Allette and Douglas Properties.
The School Board was much cooler. It shut down the possibility that any cash would be made available unless the district were to sell property–not just because the district’s reserves of around $6 million are limited, but because of restrictions on how the district may spend the money it has.
The board agonized over shutting down its Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club swimming pool to the public, as it did a year ago. It has struggled to provide an adequate pool to its high school swimming teams. Both its own and Palm Coast’s are aging. The district has been struggling to hold on to students as state subsidies are encouraging students to attend private schools and withdraw from public schools.
Volusia Flagler YMCA CEO Chris Seilkop and YMCA Board member John Walsh (the former owner and publisher of the Observer) enumerated various ways the district could have a financial stake in the project beyond a $3 million cash contribution. That includes a share in the ownership of the facility, running some of the operations, or a partnership in programs that would “provide unique and competitive advantages to Flagler schools in this new age of vouchers of school choice,” as Walsh put it.
For all that, once the board discovered that the Y would be built with or without its support, the board was more interested in exploring ways to use the facility to its students and employees’ benefit rather than contributing to its capital costs.
“This is going to take some more workshopping until we can get somewhere,” Board Chair Will Furry said, ending a discussion that stretched well past the hour mark.
Walsh had outlined the financial plan ahead for the Y. The organization received a little over $2 million in two state appropriations. “We have a verbal commitment from the city for $3 million,” he said. “We have a pledge from a private individual for the naming rights. The value of that opportunity is about $4 million,” he said. He also included the land’s value of $2 million in the calculation, though that appears not to be deductible from the construction costs. The School Board’s $3 million would put the total pledged at $14 million, Walsh said.
“Our ask is for the Flagler schools to invest $3 million to help us build the $16 million multi-use facility. That could be and should be considered an extension of your school’s campuses,” he said. “We understand that there are more needs than money to pay for them, whether they’re an operational expense or a capital investment. But I challenge you to identify any other capital investment project on your current list of needs that will reduce your operating budget by almost $300,000, annually.” He drew that figure from the cost to the district of keeping its Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club open for students, and still having to pay for capital improvements there. “Your commitment would allow us to change the conversation from ‘coming soon’ to ‘Game on. We’re building the Y.’”
The Y is hiring a fundraising firm. It is ready to mortgage the facility if that’s what it takes to build it. Walsh said the organization’s mortgaging capacity is “much greater than” the $2 million Seilkop is comfortable with, but the greater the mortgage, the more pressure on the CEO.
The Flagler Volusia Y for over a decade has just been the Volusia Y. It operates six branches here, and a resident camp. It runs on a $13 million budget with almost 500 employees (most of them part-time), with 37,000 members and 49,000 program participants. The Palm Coast YMCA would have 80 employees, four of them full-time, Seilkop said.
“We’re not going to come up here and take things over. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to fill in the gaps,” Seilkop said.
Answering a question by Board member Janie Ruddy, Seilkop said school-sponsored activities would be held there at no charge. Students and district employees would have to buy membership–at discounts, with the possibility of free access to the Y’s fitness center. Student programs would have priority. Walsh said student fees can be negotiated.
The Y also maintains a principle that no one who cannot pay would be turned away. It provides scholarships. The organization gave out $700,000 in financial assistance last year. That prompted Board member Lauren Ramirez and Ruddy to wonder how the facility could make money in a county where a significant portion of the population is not able to afford Y memberships, “because what we’d also hate is that we put investment in this and then in five to 10 years, you have to close that down,” Ruddy said.
Seilkop compared Palm Coast to Deltona, where the Y operates a branch. It was losing money. It was renovated, and its membership structure was changed, with a basic $15 membership and a $47 “plus” membership ($79 per family, per month). It’s now in the black. The feasibility study for the Palm Coast facility projects 6,000 members.
Long term, however, the Y is projecting two facilities in Flagler County. “We are in discussions with the developer, the landowner, who’s already identified property available to the YMCA,” Walsh said. “So this is first of two for Flagler.” That probably did not help his pitch to a stingy school board looking for any exit ramp it can take: if the Y is so bullish on facilities in the county, why would it need the district’s help?
Furry showed interest in a public-private partnership, but punted to more legal analysis and further discussions. Board members Christy Chong and Derek Barrs were equally guarded.
“I’m very conservative. I’m not a fan of using tax dollars for private things. I think that’s the problem with our whole federal government right now,” Chong said, without explaining. It was an odd observation: Chong appears to have no issue with public money spent on private education. “If we were to pursue this, perhaps maybe selling some property or something, just something to think about. There’s finding funds instead of using money that we already have.”
Barrs spoke similarly. “We would have to look at something to not take away from our current programs,” he said, listing challenges, from federal funds that may be disappearing to enrollment. “we as a board will have to continue to look at this. I think you know what the funding piece looks like. Where do we get these funds? We don’t have the general dollars to do anything like that right now. We all know that, or we should, and we’re going to have to look at additional ways if we want to do this.”
Superintendent LaShakia Moore remained silent throughout.
PB says
When will you bonehead politicians understand? WE CANNOT AFFORD IT!
Merrill Shapiro says
It’s too bad we’re spending so much tax money to send kids to private, mostly religious schools (with underqualified teachers) that we don’t readily have the money to support this worthy project.
Florida Girl says
The community, from youth to the elderly will benefit from the Y being here. There isn’t enough here for the children. Where I grew up, we had a YMCA. It had great programs for us as kids. Gymnastics, reading, swimming – all kinds of stuff for the youth.
I hope we get one!
DennisC Rathsam says
We need the Y…. as much as we need 9 new deputy’s! I left public schools NJ for a Catholic school! Teachers were qualified { not like some people think} I got a better education, & God was my co pilot. Let’s stop bashing private schools & Catholic schools, parents have the right to put THIER kids into a school where they can flourish. What makes these kids leave????? That’s a question the teachers & the school board. But they,ll never tell the truth. You see there are no egoes in Cathoilc schools, just GOD ALMIGHTY
Dusty says
Hundreds if not thousands of new houses, apartments, and businesses being built as the forests are stripped out along everyone of our thoroughfares yet we have no money for a YMCA or much else. The cities and counties just let the developers do whatever and do not include any fees to support recreation?
Wilma says
So the schools that were defunded from republicans school choice plan to send private schools tax dollars are on the hook? Shouldn’t the private schools that received all that tax money pay for the ymca or will that cut into their profits lol? Oh and schools pay for policing too? Republicans are winning at dismantling Murikkkan education so our future kids are left behind in the ever changing world! Don’t let the rcon terrorist win or your kids and grandkids will be paying the price !
Bleach the stain says
Ha we can’t afford anything cause we gave trillions of dollars to the wealthiest 200 people in Murikkka! Biggest robbery in history! Millions loose health coverage so the few that want for nothing have even more! The republicons terror organization is well funded and well organized to spread terror and suffering all over the globe!