EDITOR’S NOTE: This has been corrected to reflect that the money for the Forks Athletic and Aquatic Club is a grant not a loan.
PORT ANGELES — The Quillayute Valley Park and Recreation District is seeking a $50,000 grant from Clallam County to make repairs to the Forks Athletic and Aquatic Club.
The district would use the Opportunity Fund grant to fix the heating system and other parts of the facility at 91 Maple Ave.
“I think this facility is a huge, positive value to the community,” Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias said in a Monday work session.
“I see this as a really key facility to the community health of the West End.”
The Opportunity Fund is a portion of state sales tax that supports infrastructure projects in economically distressed rural counties.
Clallam County’s Opportunity Fund Advisory Board voted unanimously May 30 to recommend approval of the grant request.
No commissioner objected to a call for a July 25 public hearing on a debatable budget emergency that would provide spending authority for the grant.
Commissioner Bill Peach, whose district covers the West End, said the Forks Athletic and Aquatic Club is “very, very, very popular” with his constituents.
“On any evening during the course of the week,” Peach said, “the only other place in town that’s going to have as many cars parked out in front of it is going to be the grocery store.”
The club’s heating system, which is composed of two industrial heat pumps that were installed in 2000, has failed despite thousands of dollars in repairs, Quillayute Valley Parks and Recreation District Chairwoman Nedra Reed said in an April 10 letter to the county board.
“These heat pumps are the only source of heat and chlorine recovery for the major portion of the facility,” Reed said in her letter.
Other needs include the replacement of an obsolete fire alarm system, a new water filtration system and new siding on the exposed west side of the building.
“The wind and rain we experience has permeated the siding and has caused deterioration, especially on the windward side of the building, but the overall structure is showing signs of failure,” Reed said.
The $50,000 grant would cover the costs of the repairs, Reed said.
“They’re anticipating going out to bid and doing the work later this summer and fall,” County Administrator Jim Jones said.
The 500-member Forks Aquatic and Athletic Club has 25 full- and part-time employees.
The Opportunity Fund Advisory Board previously recommended approval of the grant. It held a second public hearing because of a “quorum problem” with the first hearing, Jones said.
Clallam County Chief Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Alvarez determined that the grant would be an appropriate use of Opportunity Funds, Jones said.
The Opportunity Fund had a balance of about $1.62 million at the end of May, Jones said. The balance would be $1.52 million if the grant is awarded after the July 25 hearing.
Peach said the Quillayute Valley Parks and Recreation District is unique because its voters approved a bond issue to build the facility but rejected a levy to operate it.
The district has more than $600,000 in bond funds that cannot be accessed until the bond is paid off in about seven years, Jones said.
Peach said he spoke with state Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, about freeing up the excess bond funds.
“I’d like to think there’s a legislative fix on this,” said Peach, a former Quillayute Valley Park and Recreation District board member.
“Long term, it’s either we wait for the bond to get paid off, or we look at it legislatively.”
Jones suggested a third solution: pass a 1 cent per $1,000 valuation property tax levy.
In addition to freeing up the excess bond funds, a penny-per $1,000 levy would make the district eligible for state Department of Natural Resources timber revenue, Jones said.
“It seems to me that it is so obviously needed that you ought to be able to sell it,” Jones said.
Peach said a levy would be a “possibility.”
“I would just say that the community said no [to a levy] three times before,” Peach said.
“If our economy starts to pick up a little bit, and we don’t have anything else competing for monies except for schools, maybe.”
Peach added: “The West End, especially in the Forks area, is not a strong believer in taxes unless its for the school or the hospital.”
The Forks Athletic and Aquatic Club received some revenue from renting out two duplexes near the facility, Peach said.
“They’ve got a relatively stable income stream to support operations, but even if they save 5 percent of that money a year for a long-term capital project, in seven years they’d be lucky to accumulate $30,000,” Peach said.
“It’s waiting for that seven years to expire is the current thing.
“It’s a matter of holding our breath between now and then.”
In 2004, the Quillayute Valley Park and Recreation District received a $160,000 grant and a $225,000 loan from the Opportunity Fund to buy land, four rental homes and equipment to support the pool and athletic facility.
In 2013, the state attorney general opined that the district could not use timber tax revenue to repay the no-interest loan. Clallam County forgave the district of $205,710 in remaining debt to the Opportunity Fund in 2015.
For information on the Forks Athletic and Aquatic Club, visit www.forksfitness.com.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
