Guest Post, Cathy Brechtelsbauer
Sioux Falls advocates; Two items that will impact the lives of children and families in our city: 1. TODAY 2:30-8pm, downtown Library. Drop in during that time to learn and meet with bus planners about proposed revisions in the city bus system. This includes revised fixed-routes and coverage area and use of the on-demand system during weekdays. They are interested in your feedback.
2. TOMORROW(Tue) about a plan for new aquatics centers and possible much higher swim fees. Two meetings, both at city council chambers, 235 W 10th St.
a. City Council “Informational meeting” at 4pm has this: “Recreation & Aquatics Bond Update” by Shawn Pritchett, Finance Directorb. The regular City Council meeting at 6pm has the first reading on the decision to put millions into the funding for this plan. (Final vote will be at 2nd reading.)
It seems to be Item #73 on the agenda. (Don’t be fooled by the item#. At a recent meeting I noticed the council was on item#69 only 20 minutes into the meeting.) The Dakota Scout had a May 1 article on this, but it was only online, not in the print edition, so you may not have seen it. Here are excerpts from “Proposed cost of using Sioux Falls’ new pools. . .”:
“The cost of running a trio of new indoor and outdoor pools and recreation centers Sioux Falls City Hall has in the works will be shy of a million dollars a year. But that low annual subsidy will come at a cost for users of the facilities.
Keeping yearly operations bills down for a new indoor recreation center and aquatics facility, an outdoor water park, and a full-scale wellness center is a selling point for Mayor Paul TenHaken’s administration as it prepares to ask councilors to approve a $77-million bond to pay for the ambition.
. . . The Parks and Recreation Department is proposing offsetting more than 80 percent of operational costs at both the indoor recreation and aquatics center planned at Frank Olson Park and a westside wellness center the mayor’s office wants to purchase from Sanford Health. Membership fees a significant portion of those revenues, the proposed levels are $40 for an individual per month, $50 per month for a couple, and $60 for a family membership package to each facility. [Cathy’s comment: Note it says “per month”!]
Sioux Falls Finance Director Shawn Pritchett said Tuesday that the proposed fees are a starting point, and it will be up to the City Council to work with the administration to determine admission costs and what level of annual subsidy is prudent.
. . .“When I hear $40, $50, $60 a month, that’s too high,” said Councilor David Barranco, who next week will vote on the proposed bond package the TenHaken administration intends to use to finance the multi-facility ambition. “We’re going to need to find a better solution. … That number is too high for the families in our community, as far as I’m concerned.”
Beyond membership fees, the sponsorships and fundraising campaigns are also anticipated to generate revenues for each facility, said Leon Younger, a consultant hired to assist the city in financial planning.
. . .Should the council approve the bond authorization in May, construction is not likely to begin on any of the facilities until 2025.”
Both these items have my attention due to their impact on low-income people in our city.
another informative article on the pool project from SF Simplified: https://www.sfsimplified.com/the-city-is-looking-to-invest-77-million-in-new-pools-but-whats-the-ongoing-cost/
It also talks about fees “per month”. Currently, fees are per use, per season or annual. You can see them here: https://www.siouxfalls.gov/activities-recreation/aquatics/pools/midco-aquatic-center/admission
Parks ain’t got it figured out
I think, if your address is south of 57th Street, and you don’t live in an apartment, then the monthly fee should be like $225 per month. While for everyone else it should be like $10 per month. That way it might get real ghetto and become a good training ground for our local youth to be raised in. Let’s keep it cheap so our kids can come home with a black eye and quickly learn the values of a “Tale of Two Cities” around here.
The people didn’t vote for any of this extravagance. They must pay whatever the Kingdom of the Charter mandates. It can’t be what it costs for a ticket to the Super Bowl or can it be.
Noem is needed by the ASPCA to shoot dogs and pitch them on the rendering truck. Whatever it takes to cease the sad commercials for a charity that’s 70% executive compensation, overhead, and luxury conventions at island resorts.
I guarantee the parks department user fees do not even consider non-resident fees for people from Brandon, Hartford, Harrisburg, Tea and so on.