HomeMy WebLinkAbout121619_cabs01County Administrator's Briefing
JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners ~'
FROM: Philip Morley, County Administrator
DATE: December 16, 2019
SUBJECT: Briefing re: Partnership to Explore Options for Continuing & Enhancing a
Community Pool & Recreation Facility to Serve East Jefferson County
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
Staff will brief the County Commissioners about continuing a partnership with the City of Port
Townsend, Port Townsend School District, YMCA and others to explore options for continuing
and possibly enhancing a community pool and recreation facility to serve the people of East
Jefferson County.
ANALYSIS:
The community has broadly identified the need for continued and enhanced intergenerational
health, wellness and recreational facilities. A collaborative group of partners including the
YMCA, PT School District, Jefferson County and the City of Port Townsend have been exploring
how best to meet such a need in ways that provide maximum benefit while remaining
affordable. These partners are bound by common and integrated interests and a partnership
agreement signed in 2017.
This work was spawned by a recognition that the existing community pool at Mountain View in
Port Townsend (owned by the Port Townsend School District and operated by the City of Port
Townsend) is very expensive to operate and is nearing the end of its useful life. This is despite
recent capital repairs made by the City of Port Townsend funded by a public bond approved in
2015.
To allow continued exploration of solutions for a public pool and recreational facility, the
partners are now recommending to their governing bodies a number of modifications to the
original agreement, which will allow the partners to continue forward in this exploratory phase
and to exercise due diligence in vetting the options.
There are a number of questions that remain unanswered, many of them of a technical, legal
and financial nature. For instance, there is uncertainty around facility cost and scale and the
best way to achieve the highest aspirations at the least cost. There are also many potential
ways to fund such a facility. All are complex and most, if not all, would require voter approval
to secure a portion of funding for new or updated facilities.
County Administrator's Briefing
To move from an exploratory phase toward a well-defined proposal that would merit wider
community consideration and discussion will first require a deeper dive into these questions.
Some partners are recommending a collective funding approach for the technical capacity
and/or capability needed to gain such clarity and to help inform a decision of whether there is a
proposal that is operationally and fiscally sound, that would merit a broader community
conversation. To move forward, any proposal would also need to include a clear description
of the legal and financial arrangements that would be required.
This update is meant to provide a common understanding of the status of the exploratory
phase of this work, and to seek a reaffirmation of the intent to continue in partnership, and a
path forward on identifying options and their associated details.
The County Administrator will be joined by City Manager John Mauro, and YMCA project
manager Jeff Randall in making the presentation.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
There is no fiscal impact to the County from the briefing. Staff may subsequently recommend
that the County join with other partners to help fund a technical analysis of one or more facility
options to provide a continued community pool and recreational facility.
RECOMMENDATION:
Hear the briefing, and consider adopting a motion authorizing the County Administrator to
negotiate a final Partnership Agreement, and when presenting a final Agreement, to propose to
the Commissioners whether the County should join with other partners in funding and
performing the technical work to vet any proposal(s).
REUig ED BY: 7
f
Philip Mfrle ,_'County Administrator,
ra
Date