The Camas City Council will have to put several big concerns to rest if the city is going to open its own community center later this year.
City councilors met Monday to discuss buying LaCamas Swim & Sport and converting the 41,000-square-foot building into a public recreation center. The city would finance the purchase with a bond of at least $5.4 million with plans to also buy the land around the building, which has been appraised at about $1.2 million.
By the end of the meeting, it was clear the councilors were nowhere near a final decision. While Councilor Shannon Turk, the most vocal supporter among the group, made her case for buying the facility, several others expressed discomfort with the financial picture.
For some of the councilors, a deal of this size comes too soon after climbing out of the recession. If the city makes the acquisition, it will spend the next 20 years paying off the building in what Councilor Tim Hazen described as a risky expense for a non-essential service.
A new community center has been on the city’s wish list for decades, but the funding to build a facility was never quite manageable, said Randy Curtis, who chairs the city’s community center committee. LaCamas Swim addresses those problems, and it would come at about a quarter of the cost of an option the city considered about eight years ago, Curtis said.
A feasibility study by the Sports Management Group, a recreation planning consulting firm, projects the facility most likely operating with a surplus each year. But the projection relies on hundreds of thousands of dollars in yearly subsidies from the city’s general fund — money that already goes toward recreation programs.
Mayor Scott Higgins said the purchase wouldn’t place any further burden on taxpayers. But it does mean the city would need to redirect some of the money from other services to pay off the building.
Overall, Councilor Steve Hogan said he wasn’t comfortable making a decision on the purchase, and he suggested putting it to the voters.
“So, there is a cost, but we can’t define it and we don’t know if we’re going to hit the break-even point,” Hogan said. “To me, it seems like something we ought to be taking out to the public.”
While the public has long shared a desire for a community center, Higgins said he doesn’t see the purchase moving forward through a public vote.
Despite the cost, Higgins stressed that he doesn’t see another opportunity for the city to get a community center.
“I view this as Camas’ one shot to get a community center,” Higgins said. “In my mind, it will not happen any other way.”
Revenue projections for the community center are based partially on membership rates. Currently, LaCamas Swim has 886 members, and the city estimates it will see a net gain of about at least 600 members after acquiring the facility.
Hazen said it could be difficult to reach that membership number as some longtime LaCamas Swim users become disappointed with the changes and choose to go elsewhere.
“I have to believe that they’re going to feel an impact,” he said. “They’re going to feel a change in use, and so as a result of that, I feel like we’re going to get attrition in membership.”
The councilors may take up the purchase again this month, with a decision on the bond possibly coming as soon as July 21.
