PORT TOWNSEND — City Council members want to continue to work on a long-term solution to bring a full-service YMCA to Port Townsend, and they hope other public entities will be involved in the process.
The council authorized City Manager John Mauro on Monday night to work on amendments of a 2017 partnership agreement that expired last year.
The 2017 partners included the city and Jefferson County, the Olympic Peninsula YMCA, Jefferson Healthcare hospital and the Port Townsend School District, which owns the land where the Mountain View Commons is located and leases it to the city.
The YMCA, which currently operates a branch at 1925 Blaine St., has proposed a $24 million facility that would update the Mountain View pool and build on the Y’s existing footprint with a wellness center.
Missing from the potential updated agreement was the hospital, a subject highlighted by council member Michelle Sandoval.
“It disheartens me that they’re not at the table,” she said, suggesting “sticker shock” is keeping hospital officials from committing to the partnership. “Nobody wants to be put on the spot for being part of the solution of that big price.”
YMCA project coordinator Jeff Randall presented in June a public-private partnership that could include $12 million through new property taxes based on the formation of a metropolitan parks district.
Voters would have to approve such a measure.
Jefferson Healthcare CEO Mike Glenn said Tuesday that hospital officials believe community health and wellness is important for current residents as well as future generations.
“We are generally supportive of measures which create health and wellness spaces for the community, but we were not supportive of this particular project and its funding mechanisms,” Glenn said.
The partnership group has existed at some level since 2014.
Mayor Deborah Stinson said there has been quite a bit of community input and credited the Y with going back to the drawing board to scale back an initial proposal.
She also supported Glenn’s position, saying the hospital is “not a roadblock in any way.”
“He’s sitting back to see where health and wellness fit in,” Stinson said about Glenn. “He’s right in the middle of the [Community Health Improvement Plan], and he saw the CHIP result. He recognizes that and wants to be part of the conversation. It’s just how he bests fits in.
“I would encourage [the hospital] to remain part of the conversation,” she said.
Jefferson County Administrator Philip Morley and County Commission Chair Kate Dean attended Monday’s meeting, and Morley spoke briefly about the county’s involvement.
He said the amended language in the partnership agreement isn’t finalized, but it’s headed in the right general direction.
“In doing the due diligence, what does that mean?” Morley asked. “As John [Mauro] said, whatever we end up doing, if it’s anything of size, it’s going to require some kind of public financing, and ultimately that means a public vote of some sort.
“We’re talking about a facility that will be tens of millions of dollars. We want to make sure that whatever we put before the voters is the right thing.”
Morley said that means offering the right types of activities and balancing that against the overall price tag.
“The bigger the price tag becomes, the more it impacts people’s ability to say yes,” he said.
Mauro said it’s been a “fiercely collaborative” process to include other public agencies.
“I couldn’t imagine it otherwise,” he said. “It would be pure torture, actually.”
Glenn said Jefferson Healthcare believes there are opportunities to create more spaces in the county to provide high-caliber services, including inter-generational daycare, fitness and wellness facilities and a pool.
“We are excited that so many community members are invested and passionate about this topic and look forward to continuing the discussion we have been involved with since 2014,” he said.
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
Terry Ward, publisher of the Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum, serves on the Olympic Peninsula YMCA board of directors.
