Council decides city should run rec facility

The Maricopa City Council unanimously decided Tuesday night to discontinue negotiations with a nonprofit group to manage the operation of a new recreation facility, putting management under the control of city staff.

The decision came after several members of the public expressed frustration to the council over a lack of information about the process taking place and no details of the costs involved with having an outside party run the center at the Copper Sky Recreation Complex.

“There are no details shared on this topic, the public has not seen what the third party has to offer, the costs, or the programs,” city resident Nancy Smith said during call to the public. Smith is the wife of Anthony Smith, former Maricopa mayor and current District 4 Pinal County supervisor.

But once city leaders addressed the packed council chambers at the Maricopa Unified School District offices, they were quick to point out the process for picking a third party operator – a request for proposal, or RFP – is confidential under state law.

“The process must remain confidential, and that is part of the state procurement code,” city purchasing manager Patricia LaCombe said before the council. “So anything in the administrative process is confidential until a recommendation of a contract award is presented to the governing board, or the council members.”

The center, being constructed at John Wayne Parkway and Bowlin Road, is scheduled to open spring 2014. The complex will include the 52,000-square-foot multigenerational and aquatic center and a 98-acre park.

The construction of the project is being paid for through bonds, and the debt incurred by the city from the bonds is covered through secondary property taxes – an action voters approved in November 2008.

In December, the city requested bids from nonprofit groups and “nonprofit-led teams, which could consist of for-profit local partners” to enter into a partnership with the city for operation of the multigenerational and aquatic center.

The city informed Valley of the Sun YMCA on May 13 an evaluation team had chosen the nonprofit as the possible third-party operator of the facility.

Prior to the council’s vote on the issue, Mayor Christian Price told audience members the key factor in the decision was about who would ultimately have control of the new facility, and in turn, control costs paid by the public.

“At this moment, I have to look and say to myself, ‘Is this what the residents want? Do they want to maintain the ultimate control?’ – to be able to control fees,” he said.

Price added if another party runs the facility and desires to make a profit, “I have to ask myself: How does that cost get passed on?”

After the meeting, Ron Chambless, senior operations coordinator for the YMCA, said his group had told city officials having the nonprofit run the facility would be “cost-neutral” to taxpayers and “locally governed.”

“It’s not about control because we said it would be locally governed in that regard,” he said.

Vice Mayor Edward Farrell clarified before the vote that cutting off negotiations with a third party to manage the facility doesn’t mean the city can’t make agreements with outside groups to operate programming.

“We can come back to the table if the council chooses to bring another RFP process out for third parties that help us with the programs that are within the facility,” Farrell said.

In answering a question posed by Councilman Leon Potter, Community Services Director Jennifer Campbell said city staff was capable of running the facility or working with a third party.

After the vote, the council also approved a plan for revising the city’s Community Services Department, which calls for extra staffing because of the complex.